Another
by E-mu saru
Summary: a demon offered as a bribe to the humans in war time...
1. Chapter 1

**Another -18 Aug'11**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 1**

"Get up and put on your clothes!"

That was the man's good-morning greetings as any other day.

Without opening his eyes he squirmed and pushed his body to sit, the old wooden bed creaked softly at his movement. He sighed lazily.

A shirt flung and hit him on the face.

He cracked open an eye; the shirt covered his head and vision.

Frowning.

Pulled the thing down with a hand.

"...this isn't mine." he mumbled flatly.

"Wear that today!"

The man was putting on his battle boots.

He stared at him on the chair without turning his face. "Going for war?" he asked uncaringly.

"Just some quarreling border-men need to be checked." the man stood, his white beard glinted in the sunlight pouring down between the crisscrossing windowframes.

He cocked his head a little. "You want me to come with you?" the question was a disagreeing.

"Yes."

"Wearing your shirt?"

"Yes."

The words between them always curt and short; a colder version of nonchalant.

He frowned deeper at the man.

"You're my pet."

"My memory's good; I don't need reminder." he held the shirt at arm-length, rejecting.

"Some **others** do!" the man grabbed his 'presented' arm and pulled him off the bed, then put the shirt on his much smaller frame. "What are you so objecting of?"

"The shirt smells like you..."

"So?" his agile hands already finished buttoning the baggy shirt.

"_**I**_ smell like you."

"You smell like me even without the shirt...!"

"So? What the use...?"

The man snickered and ruffled his brown hair.

"So, why not?" he took his uniform long jacket that was draped on the chair's back and headed to the door. "Ten minutes. Courtyard."

And the heavy door closed.

Staring at it a few breaths span, he shifted his eyes to the standing mirror; his reflection stared back at him unmoving, wearing only the man's baggy shirt and nothing else.

His face turned neutral and apathetic.

He hated white clothes.

* * *

><p>The horses neighed in discomfort at his arrival. They always do.<p>

His Sauria perked its long neck up and greeted him with a hiss, its crest shivered in anticipation.

It's the only kind of animals he could ride.

"Lix." he greeted as the giant lizard stood up, nuzzling his offered palm. The chains attached to the collar released themselves at his touch.

The horses neighed and kicked in fear as Lix batted its long tail while stretching, the fan-like fin at its end made blustering sounds.

He glanced at the horses in the stable across; they couldn't see him nor his ride, but they're always frightened. They're just like their riders.

"It's Odin's." he informed his ride as it sniffed curiously at the shirt he wore under his long jacket. The jacket was a body-fit double-breasted and opened wide started from his waist, showing the embroidery on the inner-side of the cloth and emphasizing his body curves and slender form.

"It looks like a nightgown...!" he frowned in objection; frankly, because he couldn't put the excessive length of the shirt into his tight pants... it would look even horrendous than it was out.

He tsk-ed at the mental image. Looking like a 'girl' or looking like a clown; his owner sometimes had an uncanny taste of possessiveness.

"It should be 'sense of protectiveness'!" the said man cut his thought from behind; so he knew what his objection was about since the beginning. He must have seen him froze in front of the lizard looking down at the flowing shirt reaching almost his knees. Odin did give him his largest shirt, meaning to pressurize that his pet waswearing _his_ shirt even for foolest's eyes.

He frowned at the man with accusation. Only to be ignored as the man pulled his neckband from behind to the courtyard where he was supposed to be waiting. It's already some tens seconds passed ten minutes.

He'd used to walk backwards too as one of their habitual contacts; others wouldn't find it bonding-like, though; to them it's just another form of showing who's in control.

Lix followed them obediently on its hind legs; its way of walking made the head looked like it was nodding repeatedly on the long neck.

* * *

><p>Odin's steed was the only horse who needlessly didn't object about his being.<p>

Just like its rider.

* * *

><p>He's gotten used to ignore others completely...<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh?"<p>

"Who is that?"

"...that's not 'who'; that's 'what', Master Duo!" the escort-guard sneered none too friendly. "You should know just by looking at its ride...!"

Duo turned his head behind half way, not really facing the guard; finding he was objecting to the guard's words and the offensive way he'd said them, but not really cared to voice it. His eyes just happened to catch a glimpse of the lizard and the form of its rider seemed easy to his eyes, eventhough he only saw him from behind.

Their horses neighed and snorted in uneasiness.

"...that's the infamous demon-escort?" Duo was actually asking to himself.

"Demon-_**pet**_...!" the guard said with enough contempt then spit to the ground.

"Whose demon?"

"Commander Odin's pet...! But you shouldn't show your contempt openly in front of the Commander, he'll bully you for years..." the guard urged his horse to continue walking to the gate when the lizard had gone from their sight outside the outer gates.

"Speaking from experience, hu?" Duo laughed pleasantly, and rode passed him. The guard tsk-ed, not offended; he found his mood lifted a little hearing the sound of that clear laughter.

"Well, witnessing some friends' suffering, to be exact...!" the guard steered his horse to match Duo's pace.

"Some friends? I take it more than few are against having a demon in the castle, huh?"

"Of-course! Everyone objects! Well, not exactly everyone, though; the General and **Master **like _sweet things_...if you know what I mean!"

Duo snickered, but it didn't reach his eyes. He always hated the air in the castle.

* * *

><p>"Someone's talking about you...!" Odin smirked hostilely.<p>

"They always do." he said uncaringly. Lix was clucking endlessly translating the voices of humans it heard by its extremely sharp senses to its rider. He got that Master Duo's conversations too, he just didn't care. "Aren't we in a hurry?"

Slow pace meant he got to be looked at in a longer span of time than necessary.

He hated crowd.

Odin snorted; "I want to say 'Giddyup!', too; but we can't gallop in the city's street."

He only snorted back as a habit; listening to the dogs' barks and howls as they passed along the residential main streets.

He didn't hate animals.

* * *

><p>The winds carried the smell of open-lands.<p>

...and the sounds of men arguing in the fortress too. Odin barked on and off; he should have found it funny to some extent.

Lix was putting its head on his left shoulder, purring out comforting noise in his ear; sometimes playfully nuzzling his ear-wings, liking the feel of the soft feathers tickling its sensitive muzzle skin.

"Missing home?" Odin asked from behind; his body heat was warmer than usual, he must have yelled too much and trying to cool down outside.

_Losing home_; he wanted to say, but it's easier to pretend he didn't care enough than to answer.

"Are you done?" he asked instead.

The man frowned; "Aren't you at least going to ask what this is all about?"

"Some quarreling border-men that needed to be checked." he answered flatly. "We're still going to be running the checking stuff?"

Odin smirked amusedly; although he refused to admit he found his demon-pet cute but he couldn't help it sometime. He pulled his pet behind and stole a peck on his forehead, then held him in his arms while rubbing his bearded chin on his head.

Lix let out an objection-rumble when it lost its beloved rider's shoulder, but stayed put.

"Eretta's complaining about low provision, while Gertt's complaining about not having enough enforcement..." Odin mumbled as if thinking loudly.

He only let out a low "Ahh..." when the man's beard tickled his ear-wings.

"Sorry..." Odin pulled the ear-flaps of the fur-hat down, knowing ear-wings of demons were the most erethistic parts beside the other specific part. He knew he didn't want to rub a demon the wrong way.

"Want to sleep in the woods tonight?" the man asked earnestly.

He glanced up at the man's face behind him then to the daunting stone fortress further behind; and nodded his answer. He liked solitude more than company.

The man snickered; "That's why I got enough blankets on my horse..."

_You brought blankets instead of tents?_

"Body warmth is enough..."

"Hah! For you...! I'll need enough blankets to keep myself warm to warm you up!"

Lix rumbled its 'laugh' at their side.

"We'll ride to Darque in the evening and sleep on the way. It's full moon tonight...!" Odin smirked satisfactorily to himself.

"You just want to go for a recreation..." he accused flatly.

"Since I can't ask you to go for a picnic, now, can I?" the man pointed out acidly.

Lix rumbled deeper.

"Shut up, Lesard!" Odin retorted in irritation, the lizard turned its head away pretended not noticing him.

* * *

><p>...he didn't hate the man.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Saru's note:<em>

_uhhhh... 'don't kill me'...? this has become a habit, apparently: when you're stressed, write new story. hahaha._

_Our editor wanted more self-help theme for comics because it sells more, so he said in the comic-illustrators gath some months ago; that's why we agreed to boil some plots with that theme too for our next project after the one we're working on finished (despite Oni-tan's warning saying 'you shouldn't carelessly agreed to making something like that'; but saru thought you wouldn't know you could until you try it yourself)._

_To saru's dismay, after trying boiling ideas and taking notes about things that should be considered as **positive**... when the idea came running amok in saru's brain cavity, and saru plotted on bed for the whole night trying to stop plotting and start sleeping -which was didn't work until the plot finished by the morning-, all saru got was a story of a psychopath-lolita...! (-who's **helping herself** collecting blood and bits and memento from dead bodies) -facepalm-_

_four illustrator-friends (who had agreed joining the project too) actually said:  
>'awww, it's alright, monkie-honey... at the end-page of your book you could write something like this "Morale of this story: DO NOT become (someone) like the <strong>writer<strong> of this book" or something down that line!'_

_so, what do you like better?  
>Inspirational story of a daily-dork finding enlightenment in the cliché-way of picturing life or dark psychopathic daily-life story of a cute insane lolita (with blood and bits scattering around)?<em>

_saru said psychopath-lolita is way better, but haven't got the courage to report to our editor yet..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Another 21 Aug'11**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 2**

The rain fell with an unending hissing sound, that's what his ears picked up.

"ACHOOOOW...!"

He cocked his head a little to the direction that sound came from behind him; Odin was striping his drenched clothes and pulling out his blankets stock. Someone who had a death wish might say that the man's sneezing sound was cute...

He turned his head back facing forward; the sky was grey and thunder rumbled low every now and then.

That's why he thought about tents and NOT blankets... but his owner had strange judgments more often than always. Taking him in was one of them, despite everyone's sneer of contempt and downright condescending stares and offensive words.

He should be thankful about anomalies in life.

...wasn't he one, too?

"Sheesh... so much for sleeping in the woods, hu?" The man said while drying his short hair with his sash, already draped a thick blanket on his shoulders.

He turned around, his eyes dropped on the blanket part that was sliding off from the man's left shoulder. The wind blew and swirled in the narrow cave. Odin shivered for a short second and dropped the sash uncaringly to the ground, lifting the blanket rim open inviting his pet into his embrace.

He stared the man for several seconds; then complied.

"I'm not that wet...!" he objected when Odin's hands tried to rub the blanket ends to rub his hair dry. He wasn't that wet since Odin gave him his cloak sheltering him from the rain.

He didn't like to be spoiled; he didn't like to interact at all if it's up to him...

"...the rain smells like smoke..." he said silently.

Odin took him down sitting on the cave floor, taking his jacket off and started unbuttoning his baggy shirt.

"Some people must have used explosives passed these mountains. You know in the past century wizards made the liquid-fire in glass balls and used them for bringing down the dragons; then they made liquid-fire throwers that even non-magic users could use..." his agile hands already had the relatively dry shirt slid off the slender shoulders of his demon.

"Ha!" the man smirked in disdain; "That what ended their own usefulness; if magic isn't needed anymore then there's no use keeping magic-users exist!"

He blinked as the man's arms pulled his small body onto his broad naked chest.

"Now the non-magic users use those to bring down each other...!" Odin sneered.

He frowned.

"Your skin is cold." he said flatly.

The man stared down at him.

"I'll get warmer soon...!" he said embracing his demon's body with both arms, cocooning both of them in the blanket. His demon stiffened a little, presumably by the cold contact of his skin, but didn't utter another word in objection. Odin watched his long eyelashes drooped, and his eyelids fluttered close and open several times as if fighting sleep, before he surrendered to its claim. The silence kept them company as the hissing rain sounded far away.

* * *

><p>The strong heartbeats owned his consciousness.<p>

He needed the man to survive...

* * *

><p>"...It's ugly!"<p>

Odin said with a grimace.

He only stared generally at the land down the cliff, several smoke towers still trying to make their ways to the sky above, his ear-wings flicked in discomfort.

"Cover your wings, Heero...!"

He heard his owner said his name. It's an order. He did as told but he didn't like the feel of other substance rubbed on them, eventhough his owner had given him the softest fur he could find to make his hat.

"A life is left..." he said silently, staring at ground bellow. The full moon gave him more than enough light for him to see clearly.

Odin didn't react to his words; he only led his horse to move further from the sight of the battlefield.

He stared the man for some time..., then pulled the rein of his lizard.

"If the soldiers had just had a battle near here, they'd be very alert of strangers; we don't want to get involved in something-..."

His demon had gone from behind him.

"HEY, HEERO...!" the man shouted watching the lizard's tail flapped wildly balancing its fast descend down the steep cliff. Then he tsk-ed and could only wait on the edge of the cliff; his horse couldn't take the same way down.

Lix didn't care about the things it trampled under its feet, a few bits of charred flesh and bright colored mud trapped between its claws. The sound of dying breath reached his ears louder than the sounds of crushed dead bodies the lizard made occasionally. Lix knew where its rider wanted to stop.

A battered soldier lied between others, half his body was covered by the mud and broken pieces of what to have been weaponries, his visible arm seemed bent in a weird angle and one of his legs was battered beyond recognition. His bloody breaths showed he had some broken ribs too, and some punctured organs.

He stared at the soldier's eyes already lost their awareness.

The soldier's comrades must have missed him when they retreated, he must have lost consciousness by that time and they had thought he was just another casualty.

The broken dying voice made sense to his ears, though; the soldier was singing a broken piece of sleepsong. He must have young children back home.

Lix rested on its belly; he dismounted his ride and stood at the side of the soldier's head, staring down unblinking.

Squatted down, and found the soldier's eyes kind if lit up as his shadow covered his unseeing sight. A small smile tugged on those bloody lips, the man was trying to call out some names unfamiliar to his ears.

"Welcome home, father..." he whispered apathetically, knowing the soldier must have seen him as his children somehow. The dying man's breath became labored for a short span, trying to say some words in vain; then he stopped moving just like that.

He blinked at the sudden stop; then closed the soldier's eyes with his right hand. The rain had relatively washed away the dirt from the soldier's face; he only had a light smear of blood left on his palm. After that he stood and mounted his Sauria again and left without looking back.

Lix used its scythe-like parts protruding from its front legs to help it climbed up; Odin didn't look too pleased when they got on the edge of the cliff again. He didn't make excuses for his act and just proceeded with their trek.

Odin rode at his side and threw him his water bottle. "Wash that blood off your hand...!"

He complied without a word.

The woods smelled blood carried by the winds, especially when that blood was moving.

* * *

><p>"UWAAAAGH...!" a scream sliced the night air and a peasant man came tumbling down the sloping land covered by thick bushes.<p>

Odin only lifted one of his thick white brows when the peasant's body landed ungracefully in front of his horse. The peasant hurriedly straightened his body on his butts and using his hands and feet backpedalling in panic trying to get away from whatever seemed to be chasing him.

The horse snorted.

The peasant froze.

After exactly 5 seconds passed while he stared at the _soldier_ on his horse as he stared at Odin blankly; the peasant continued his panic, trying to say something and pointing to the general direction from where he tumbled down from. Odin only frowned in disagreement as he tried to make out what the peasant was trying to say to him.

Several black shadows, sized bigger than bulls, lurked behind the trees; staring them down with countless red-shining small round eyes.

He looked up and stared at those shadows, "...mountain-broughams..." he said without alert; being a demon as he was, the other creatures would generally feared him more than he feared them, whatever kind of monsters they were.

His owner turned to the shadows' direction and generally ignored them; knowing those creatures had stopped moving closer as they recognized his demon.

Lix rumbled in curiosity, its drools dripped from its muzzle when it recognized there were preys closing around its perimeter. Its rider tucked the reins into the collar and jumped down from its back; Lix stared at him with shining eyes, all it needed was a nod of permission from its demon-rider and it launched to chase the shadows.

The peasant yelled in surprise when he realized what creature was once behind the man on the horse. He only had a glimpse of the lizard's fast move and the shadows ran scattering into the depth of the woods.

"...wha-... wha..." the peasant struggled with his words, pointing to the now gone lizard.

Odin steered his horse forward and stopped behind the man. "Are you from a village around here?" he asked calmly.

The peasant gaped at him, trying to panic more when he saw that there was a demon standing not so far from him but his strength betrayed him. Mimicking Odin's calmness, or just surrendered to his fate the peasant slumped and pointed generally to the direction of his village. Several beastly screeches reached their ears, and the peasant jumped; already knowing what things were screeching and what made them to. He rather had no monsters at his tail and a lizard with full stomach tailing him home.

"What happened behind the mountain back there?" Odin asked with a frown, flicking his head to the direction they came from.

The peasant took deep breaths before he found his voice back; "...ummm... you are..." he glanced at Odin's ring crest; "...the Commander from the Castle..."

And there's no one else in that country that would bring a demon-escort with them.

The peasant sighed; "Sir, we could talk more comfortably in my dwelling..." he bowed.

Odin stared him down for awhile, and nodded. Just as he pulled his rein to move, the lizard came back with a very satisfied face a lizard could make. The peasant hurriedly got up and led them down the path to his village, occasionally glancing behind nervously at Odin's demon on the lizard's back.

* * *

><p>"So... what took you to this part of woods, Sir?" the peasant asked a little nervously, the teapot he was pouring spilled a little.<p>

Odin took the seat on the dining chair; the peasant's house was small and cozily adequate, the dining table and chairs were the only big furniture on that floor.

"That battlefield behind the mountain?" Odin ignored the peasant's chit-chat and repeated his question back then.

The peasant paused for a short time; he was in his early twenties and seemed quite bright.

Clearing his throat, the peasant took out some food from the kitchen cabinet, and sat down across Odin. "When you passed, what did you notice, Sir?"

Odin stared the young man with a stare; he wasn't used to be answered with questions by people he questioned, moreover by peasants; especially since his men feared him for his strictness.

"Only one uniform-..."

"That's right, Sir...!" the peasant cut and Odin stared him more. "Those were Darque and Roude army...!"

"Roude...?" Odin's left brow curved up in surprise.

"Yes, Sir. The very Roude behind this mountain; that's why villagers are gone seeking refuge to other places...!" the young man nodded vigorously.

That explained the empty village streets and the abandoned houses; at least he was relief that his demon's arrival didn't cause a stir as usual.

"Why Roude?" Odin stared intently at the peasant; unlike Eretta and Gertt, the city-fortresses which always had a clash with each other, since they were formerly enemies before surrendering to his kingdom; Darque and Roude were originally one state before the former ruler divided it into two regions for the two heirs. They even have the same uniform for their soldiers.

"Uhhh..." the peasant seemed a little nervous and bent closer to speak silently to the Commander. "It's only rumors, but the heir to Darque's Lord that was just born last year said to have the Lord of Roude's traits...!"

Odin's brows shot up at that info; he knew that the two Lords, despite having the same father, they had different mothers of different origins. And it seemed that those siblings competed in every aspects of life, including in their relationship with women. That meant he had more things to settle than just a few border-men in this area.

"How could you distinguish opponents when you're wearing the same uniform?" Odin asked curiously.

"Darque soldiers wear red band, while Roude's wear yellow band, Sir..." the peasant nodded spiritedly again. "The other villages situated between the border of Darque and Roude had been emptied too in the past month, what's with the soldiers had been engaged in open battles too..."

"You don't leave?" Odin took a piece of bread from the table.

"I..." the peasant looked a little baffled, "...my sister went on a journey last week, and she hadn't come back; I'm waiting for her to return or to inform me about her whereabouts..." he scratched the back of his head, looking down. Odin stared him while eating the bread.

"Living alone means you're vulnerable to monsters attack...!"

"Uhmm, yes. But they usually didn't enter the village's edge; and didn't come out of their lairs before sunset."

"So, what were you doing in the woods alone in the night, without weapon to defense yourself too?"

"Aahh...hahahh..." the peasant laughed shyly; "I was searching for mountain vegetables and hiding in a cave when the battle suddenly broke, and fell asleep when the rain started. By the time I woke up, it was already passed sunset and I thought I could run fast enough back home. But never thought I'd be freaked out hearing those spiders closing in around me that I'd run in panic and got lost..." the words faltered.

Odin stared at the young man's beet red face.

"Oh, if you'd like I could brew you the vegetables I got today...?" he brightened.

Odin stared at the young man suddenly changing the topic.

"And... and... I could put the talisman hung by the door into the second floor so your escort could enter and have some dinner, too?"

Odin blinked, took a swig off the earthen teacup and stood up. "He doesn't eat...!"; then nodded his thank-you to him.

The peasant seemed uneasy when they left, possibly because he felt saver when a soldier was with him instead of being alone.

"The village has barricade against monsters..."

Odin glanced at his demon as he mounted his steed. "Definitely didn't work against humans...!" He meant the disputing soldiers.

"Strong enough to repel evil spirits." he ignored his owner's words altogether.

"Really?" Odin steered his horse taking the only road to get across the village. "That young man thought you didn't come into his house because of the talisman he had hung on the door...!"

The houses by the sides of the road were dark, indicating that they were empty.

"What makes you uneasy?" Odin asked noticing his demon somewhat being alert keeping his eyes open to everything around them from the time they entered the village.

"There's no one here..." he said softly.

"Humph...! The young man said the villagers had taken refuge elsewhere avoiding the battles."

"All of them?"

"Seemed so if we don't find anyone else, right?" Odin said uncaringly.

He silenced for some time, taking the lead in anticipation if anything went wrong; his owner followed him without a word more.

"Do you notice the stone statues placed in between some houses had spells written on them?" he asked. "And all the houses of this village located along this single road?"

"Don't you find it unusual...?" he turned his head to see his owner, and found him slumped unconsciously on his horse.

He stopped right away.

Lix suddenly let out a hysterical screech.

A hot thing stabbed him on his chest near the right shoulder and pushed him off his ride, nailing his body to the dirt road.

He narrowed his eyes, his left hand gripped the hot thing that shone in the dark; it sizzled by the heat. He couldn't move. His Sauria screeched in panic as it was tangled in something invisible.

A humanoid black shadow screened over him, with a leer showing sharp fangs in its mouth.

"Demon...!"

"How nice of you coming into my parlor...!"

Somehow the shadow's hiss sounded melodious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Another -14 sept'11-**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 3**

"Demon...!"

"How nice of you coming into my parlor...!" the melodious hiss sounded almost gentle in his ears; he tried to force his arm strength pulling the hot thing from his chest.

Lix screeched in panic.

A crescent-shaped dagger plunged to the ground around his right wrist; the long spike at its center stabbed his flesh and nailed it unmoving.

He stared at the shadow's face hidden by a loose tattered cloth.

He knew the smell wafting around that humanoid form.

"Why are you in that form?" he asked flatly. "I meant no harm to this village. We're only passing through."

The shadow's leering lips froze and tightened flat.

A strong wind was suddenly bellowing for several breaths span, the trees made upset whispers with their leaves.

"Shut up! A dark creature like you has no right to ask me that...!"

"A CREATURE AS ABOMINABLE AS YOUUU...!" the shadow pulled its hands up, giving all its strength to plunge a wooden stake into his heart.

Lix let out a desperate screech.

A flash of the moonlight reflected from a sword as it was unsheathed behind the commotion.

The shadow jerked as another shadow looming over it, covering the moon as it looked up.

"You're...! The drug didn't-?" it pulled itself from the demon's sprawling body and hurriedly retreated behind a big enough tree that was shadowing three houses by the left side of the road.

Lix screeched again in fear and was frantically tried to escape the invisible trap.

"I'll free you soon, Lix; don't struggle about, it's getting hotter the more you move...!"

Pulling the pierced hand, he examined the dagger's handle. It was crafted with charmed jewelries and the intricate pattern carvings were actually spells. A too distinctive item for peasants; definitely didn't belong to such a small average village like that place.

'...iiiick? -krrrrr...'

He turned his gaze at his lizard again, Lix was cocking its head at the sides as it examined the dagger; he knew the lizard had recognized such weapon still attached into his wrist too.

Pulling the hot thing nailing his body to the ground, he stood up, frowning at the still sizzling red crystal in his left hand as he walked to his lizard. Lix was making upset clucking as he used the crystal to browse around its seemingly ensnared body parts, there were red-light strings lit as the thing neared particular parts and they were pulled back into the crystal again.

Once Lix was freed he tossed the thing casually to the ground, it's stopped sizzling once it wasn't touching him.

Pulling the dagger and the stake out, he slid them into his belt behind his back and walked to the man still standing with his sword out, grazing the dirt road with its tip.

He stared at the man's face, and looked down at the graze marks the sword tip made on the ground then stared back at the man's sleeping face.

"...what are you _dreaming_ of, exactly?" he asked with a bothered face for once.

Odin answered with a long snore and a goofy sneer with a drool.

Lix rumbled its objection behind them.

* * *

><p>"Uuuuughhh...!" a lazy moan, followed by a long yawn; and the man woke up.<p>

Stretching his body and stopped half way as he felt a smaller body literally lied on top of his.

Opening his eyes, he looked straight into his demon's eyes staring at his face.

"That was a good sleep." he said without being asked.

His demon stared him unmoving.

"Didn't you sleep?" his big hands automatically embraced the slender body under the blankets, mostly checking whether it was cold rather than it was wounded.

"I had a nap in the cave yesterday."

"You're not cold. Good." the man didn't even think that the demon was using him as a mattress. "What's this?" he pulled the dagger from the demon's belt.

Odin lifted one brow as he looked at the weapon.

"Too expensive for peasants or hunters..."

"Druid's." he cut flatly.

"Druid's weapon?" the man stared at his face with a frown. "There are still druids around at this present time?"

"Perhaps their descendants."

Odin tsk-ed. "You alright?"

"Nothing I can't handle..." he muttered, "That's what you think when you consumed the drug deliberately."

The man paused at the demon's accusation. He was just wondering what would happen if he'd done that, he was sure his demon could handle a few hungry peasant hunters trying to collect more living expense out of him.

"Hunters made the best sleeping drugs, you know." and that wasn't even relevant with the reasoning.

"What if it was lethal poison and not sleeping drug?" he asked flatly but sounded bored.

"That young man... he recognized my ring crest, he wouldn't want to oppose the Palace." Odin tried to reason his act.

"You don't know that." he muttered. "You don't know what was in other humans' minds."

Odin blinked at his demon. It's as if the demon was worried for him.

"I got you worried?" he asked openly. The man was not as curt outside as he was in the Palace; he even let his demon saw the clumsy almost irresponsible acts he made which he never let anyone else saw.

His demon didn't say anything back.

"It's nothing you can't handle, right?" he repeated his thoughts. There was a flash of something in the demon's eyes for a millisecond.

"You hurt?" Odin instantly sat up embracing his demon's body to sit on his laps then inspecting the pale naked chest presented to him. There were red marks on the pale skin, he'd remembered every mark and place it was etched, and there was a new circular mark on the chest right on where his heart should be.

"Your heart...!" Odin frowned and his shoulder stiffened with the sense of responsibility.

"It's dead, anyway." he answered the man apathetically. "I let it happened." he said when Odin's hand rubbed his cheek with a hardened face, it was his way of apologizing.

He never cared whether others apologized to him or not. That's why he'd hidden the stake away.

..._besides,_ _it was you who scared the perpetrator off_, he thought, but didn't voice it.

"Are we going?" he was generally feeling bored with the cave, having stayed up all night to keep watch; the sleep drug was strong, alright; usually Odin was a light sleeper who'd be woken up by even slight movements. That was to say that he never moved when the man embraced him when they're sleeping together.

Odin was still frowning when he put his baggy shirt on his demon again. He seemed to be displeased with the idea of continuing the journey, since it appeared that the attack last night was more than just a band of peasants-turned-hunters trying to collect some coins. He hated when he made wrong decisions and wouldn't let go until he right them.

"I'm not really eager to go back to the Palace in a hurry." he knew what was on the man's mind, so he spoke up.

Odin stilled after buttoning the shirt, and stared at him; seemingly he was torn between his assailant and his task.

"Are your border-men waiting for you in a hurry?"

Odin made a face as if he was pouting, but not really; you'd say it was a battle-man's pout if you're into hardened soldiers.

He sighed, knowing his reasoning wouldn't win anyway. "Let's go then." he stood up and folded the blankets.

Odin was still 'pouting' on his seat when the demon walked outside the cave to find his lizard with the blankets in hand.

"The man took it to heart about last night." he muttered to the lizard when he packed his saddlebag. Lix rumbled to him, its eyes shone with something like alert.

"You're worried about the crystal? It's seldom for humans to be able to catch a Sauria, but I think the attacker wouldn't try catching you again, you're not their target."

Lix rumbled again and nuzzled at his ear-wings.

"You don't need to worry about me. Nothing can get to me." the apathetic way of how he'd said the words might sound lonely to other's ears.

"We'll finish the border-men fast and come to check here again!" Odin snorted and readied his saddle.

He blinked at the man's sturdy back. He sounded like he was thinking of killing someone.

"...don't kill them when they start to nag. You're supposed to bring them peace back, not making new wars." he reminded his owner, "The General will be mad at me again for not managing to hold back your temper."

"Ha! I'll get mad at him back for blaming you for what I'd done...!" Odin pulled the horse rein and urged it to go.

Lix rumbled low at the disappearing human on his horse back. Humans might've let it out as an appreciative 'ooooohh'.

He stared at the lizard's face from the ends of his eyes. "He can't really get mad at The General, right? Not without facing a court martial later!"

The lizard let out that lizard's rumble-laugh again.

"On your feet, Lesard! And bring that demon with you...!" Odin's agitated yell only intensified the lizard's rumble.

* * *

><p>He made a note to self to check what was the man dreaming of.<p>

It bothered him to see what signs the man made on the ground last night.

It's something no human should've known about _him_... eventhough he knew that man was different from the first time they'd met.

* * *

><p>Another half day ride and they entered Darque Lord's estate.<p>

The city folks looked a bit haggard because of the battles, they seemed frightened about their future more than about a demon entered their vicinity; that had spoken a lot for itself. That's why before the battles spread wider to another states and took more casualties than it already was, Odin was sent there to reconcile the warring states. The news reached the Palace was about the two heirs disputing about family affairs, that's why The General only sent the Commander alone to deal with them, and currently the mentioned Commander was considering on how to maim and torture the messengers for not updating the news or giving the necessary details.

Though he admitted that if he were to bring his soldiers with him then there might be new wars he'd have to deal with. Right, his demon knew him well enough about his patience endurance -which was almost zero- when dealing with nagging people. Seemingly The General already knew what would happen too, since he'd instructed clearly that Odin was to take his demon along.

Now, where did that come from, anyway?

Surely he was The General's subordinate, so The General could order him around as he want concerning his duties; but his demon was his, he's NOT in the list of The General's _orderable_...!

"...what are you grumbling about?"

Odin glanced at the demon's plain face. "You're not in the slightest bit mad?"

He blinked. "What for?"

The man tsk-ed as he recalled; the demon was only objecting about being told to wear his baggy shirt. He turned his face forward and glared deaths to a poor stable-boy who was cowering behind a horse butt.

"So...!" Odin frowned darkly at the end of the table; "I tried to make this short and as domesticated as it can be. Where's your brother?"

The Darque's Lord sweat on his seat across Odin, his wife choked on her breath in her most-possible-far-away seat from her husband, and the maid holding the problem-baby snapped her head at Odin.

He thought the man should have said it as 'personal' or 'familial' or something else in that line, but he kept it to himself since he didn't really care either ways. That's what to be expected from his owner, though; what the man thought of as 'family' was only 'horse and bunk', anything more than that was just the excess from living with others. Although he kind of not bored seeing the Darque Lord fidgeted nervously.

"Well?" Odin gritted his teeth.

"Yes..., Commander." Darque's Lord was surprisingly managing to gain his calm and composedness in short time, his whole profile wasn't bad.

The young man could've been a good ruler, he thought. But for making his soldiers died in vain in a war driven by selfishness was NOT good; he recalled the soldier on the battlefield, and stared intently at the young Lord's face from behind his owner.

The Darque Lord squirmed and cowered a little. "...I... received the Palace-letter that you'd arrive today, so I'm sure he also received the same letter too. But I don't know why he hasn't come..., Sir." the young man stole a glance at Odin's face and added the last part hoping to smooth Odin's darkened face.

The baby cooed in the maid's hands.

Now it was the wife's turn to fidget on her seat.

He stared at the baby. The maid felt his eyes directed on them and shiftily covered the baby using her body turning her back gradually at him in fear.

The baby cooed again.

He turned his stare at the Lord; white skin, black hair, grey eyes.

The wife had white skin, blonde hair, green eyes.

The baby had dark skin, silver hair, shockingly bright yellow eyes. A different race from its supposed parents; even a fool could see that.

"...-take the baby, Heero!" Odin said as he stood up abruptly.

He snapped his eyes at the man's rigid back, he was ignoring their conversation so he didn't catch the earlier part of the man's order.

"WHAT?" the Lord and his wife yelled together as they stood up in panic.

"I said I confiscate the origin of this problem until it's SOLVED. Take the baby, Heero!" Odin slammed his fist to the table; the chandeliers shook by the impact and fell rolling to the floor making a pretty tinkling sound.

The baby cooed in excitement at that pretty sound and jolted in the maid's hands.

He stared at the people in general and walked to the trembling maid.

"...no-... NO!" the wife jumped and tried to grab the baby as the demon's hands pulled the baby from the fear-stricken maid.

"YOU THINK I WILL ALLOW YOU THE LUXURY OF HOLDING YOUR CHILD WHILE YOU LET YOUR SOLDIER'S CHILDREN LOSING THEIR FATHERS FOR NOTHING?" Odin's roar shocked everyone present and the wife fell petrified on the floor staring the man with wide eyes.

The baby was surprised and cried instantly.

He glanced at his owner, recognizing how furious the man was. More than finishing off some border-men, he might want to finish off some border-Lords instead. He rocked the baby gently, cocooning it in the frilly silk and velvet cloth of its luxurious blankets, carefully tried to not touch the baby since he knew everyone would condemn the baby as the child touched by a demon for the rest of its life if he did. Staring at the baby's clear eyes, knowing the irony that the now fatherless children of the soldiers' might only have simple old blankets for their cold nights and their dead fathers would be lucky if they had graves at all, but it wasn't the baby's fault...

"Co... Commander, please..." the young Lord stammered with blue face, listening his wife cried on the floor.

The baby started to choke in his hysterical cry; several soldiers came running in from the doors hearing the loud voice and the baby's cry.

He sighed, knowing this was why his owner would get court martial-ed sooner or later; so he opened his mouth...

_...home... where...  
>Land of fathers... thrive...<br>and mothers... smile...  
>winds come...<br>cool rains... bright...  
>flowers scent...<br>save from harm... to be...  
>together happy...<em>

He hummed the dying soldier's sleepsong he heard yesterday, it was broken in sentence and he might be wrong in some words but despite he knew some sleepsongs in demon language, thinking the humans might accuse him of cursing the baby instead since they didn't understand his language, he thought at least the soldier's singing would reach at least a baby's ears if not his children, so his last breaths wouldn't be in vain.

Odin stared at his demon, knowing what ran in his mind. He might look stoic beyond belief or heartless even, but the man always could see through his kindness. His anger cooled down, recognizing the baby had stopped crying too, now it was only hic-upping in exhaustion; but its wide clear eyes didn't look scared of the demon. So at first he was thinking of punishing the Lord and his wife by giving the baby to his demon, knowing they'd be freaked out when a demon was in possession of their baby, blood related or not; but he felt guilty now for ever thinking of using his demon in that way.

"...Milord?" a confused soldier asked the petrified Lord in a very small voice.

Odin snorted. "There's a resting house in the eastern side of Galley Hill facing the lowlands. We'll be waiting there for you to talk and solve your problems. For ever causing the Palace to interfere with your internal affairs, you'd be lucky if **Master** doesn't punish you as war criminals. Be sure your brother get the message right this time." Odin straightened his pose and said levelly; he took some time to stare everyone in the eyes to see they understood his reason, then sighed to himself and walked away, cueing his demon to follow him close at his side. He did say 'we', indicating to the others that he treated his demon as equal; though mostly no one caught that.

"...but- ...but who will feed the baby...?" the wife tried to chase them although she needed the maid's support to stand.

Odin stopped. "Then you better be there before the baby gets hungry!" he said in annoyance, and draped his hand on the demon's shoulder to take him in his fast strides, ignoring the complaints and other things behind them.

* * *

><p><em>Saru's note:<em>

_got almost three weeks without internet in the last Ramadhan holiday, Oni-tan visited her grandparents' village so saru stuck at home playing game in our old PC (since saru's family don't religiously celebrate it, and studio's work-PC is in Oni-tan's house), and fighting over whose turn for it with sister-snake. not doing illustration works, not typing comics script, not penciling comics too. it was straight sleep-eat-game-toilet everyday made saru stored stomach fat (blush), though it'd be burnt soon enough now that the Museum project continued (the notice suddenly came in email today and it's to be started next week, while saru thought it was only a one-time gig that's already finished), so saru thought to make up with anyone who was waiting for this fic's progress since seemingly saru wouldn't have time to write for a long while (again...OTL ... just like the other incomplete fics that ended as saru's "deposit" which saru continued if saru had time to write)._

_saru will try to write short chapters, though; so that any incomplete fics could be updated gradually._

_many thanx for you who'd been appreciative for this selfishly-just-for-the-sake-of-venting-some-works-stress-made fics... handling three jobs at a time is really gets to saru's nerves sometimes, and saru's really sucks at being social too that even most of the neighbors don't even realize saru's Mom has TWO daughters while saru had lived in that house for over 20 years; or they just forgot?_  
>'<em>the poor un-wise hermit' as other-mind called saru... haha<em>

**_so, as the event came (Idul Fitri already passed, though), saru would like to apologize to everyone whom by chance or (probably, if anyone ever feel like saru-) intentionally or unintentionally saru had made mistakes to.  
>most of the time saru didn't realize saru made mistakes until very late afterwards and usually saru gets too awkward to ask personally whether they have problems with saru or not. (this sounds like making excuses, duh)<em>**

**_so once again, Saru humbly apologize to everyone for saru's mistakes. -bow-  
>sept17, 2011<br>_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Another 21 sept'11**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 4**

The wind was blowing strong passed the Galley Hill, billowing like the sound of an endless whistle. Lix made a happy lizard-whistling too once in a while.

'kreeeee~aaa...'

It sounded repeatedly.

Odin glanced at the lizard with a frown. "What is the Lesard doing?"

"Singing." he answered. The baby cooed happily when Lix sprung every now and then, flapping its fan-like end of tail while doing it. The baby must've felt like being in a rocker.

A very _eccentric_ one, for that.

"Singing what?" Odin's face contorted in a disturbed frowned, almost a grimace.

"The wind." he answered again.

"What wind?" Odin almost sounded exasperated that his demon never bothered to provide a lengthy explanation when asked, thus he had to ask more than once. "What singing for?" he added in impatient.

The demon stared.

"Are you bothered?" his usual flat tone.

Odin frowned to himself. _Wow, that was one hell of a way to evade explaining_; he thought.

"Bored?" he asked his owner back.

Odin turned his head to see the demon's face passed his shoulder; if he could say it any better, he could swear that the demon was teasing him... with a plain unfeeling face, even.

"Are you mad at me?" the man asked eventually.

He stared that man for some time, giving him the 'oh, wow; you notice?' apathetic stare.

"Why are you mad at me?" Odin sweat-dropped.

"Why did you make me take the baby?"

"Oh." the man turned facing forward again, sounding like everything turned normal again. "You don't like babies? That one seemed to like you just fine...!"

He stared at the man's back. _That wasn't the point_, he thought, but didn't bother to word them.

The baby cooed and squealed reaching out its small hands towards the demon's face; though they wouldn't touch it at that distant, he frowned in discomfort.

"Why don't you hold it?" he called out flatly to his owner.

"It's wet already?" Odin turned his head.

He frowned in objection. "No."

"Then there's no need to change hands." the man sum it up.

_That's not the point, at all! _He wanted to say out loud, but Lix's bouncing made the baby laughed, and he resigned to his task.

'acroo-rooo~croooo-croo...'

The Sauria bounced enjoying itself more, ignoring the other creatures around it.

"Why is the Lesard making even more weird sounds?" the man asked curtly.

_If you're bothered, ignore it! _-was his frown saying at his owner. Too bad the man didn't bother to look back.

* * *

><p>The awaited parties of the Darque Lord and the Roude Lord as expected didn't take too long to find them in that resting house. <em>That was the 'power' of a demon, mind you<em>; Odin smirked in satisfaction to himself as he stood on the house porch.

The said demon only frowned in objection behind him; the baby cooed and squealed pulling at the end of his hat flaps.

"Don't; if you touch my wings you'd get cursed." he pulled the hat from the baby's hands and took it off his head, deciding he could just exposed his ear-wings to some spectators. They had already known he was a demon, anyway.

The two Lords looked disturbed as they stared at him; their soldiers whispered at each other behind them.

The baby squealed in excitement and tried to reach his feathers. He tsk-ed and spread his ear-wings so the baby couldn't reach them.

"~uwaaa..." the baby squealed in awe.

And the spectators gasped in unison.

Odin blinked and looked behind; he was going to see what each Lord had to say, but didn't expect his demon showing them his wings first before he spoke up; spread wide, even.

"He's going to attack...!" one of the soldiers said in fright; and the Darque Lady ran to the front in panic.

"NO, wait for what we have to say first!" she pleaded.

He stared at the woman, the baby jolted happily in his hands. His owner stared at the woman, and then looked back at him.

The demons that nowadays people knew had only a pair of grayish colored ear-wings, while he got three pairs of white wings with the lowest pair rooted at the adjoining part of his ears and temples. The long soft tufts at his sideburns covering his pointy ears had luminescent ends with colorful shines of mostly blue-range colors.

_He must've looked grand to the people's eyes_; Odin smirked proudly.

"~eee... Daa...!" the baby jolted excitedly and tried to reach the shining tufts now.

"WHY IS MY BABY CALLING THAT DEMON 'DADDY'?" the two Lords shouted together, then gasped and stared hostilely at each other when they realized it.

_Oh? This should be fast, then_; Odin thought at that, and walked down from the porch. The two Lords looked somewhat half-heartedly resigning to their fates and got down from their horses too.

"So we could get to the bottom of this problem now that everyone's involved is arrived...!" Odin said loudly with authoritarian tone, skipping greetings.

"My baby... please...!" The Darque Lady looked anxious being held back by the baby-maid's hands. Odin only glanced at them for a fracture of second.

"I belief you came here for a good reason?" Odin asked but his tone told everyone that he wouldn't be denied. Both the Lords fidgeted with stubborn faces but didn't object; like Odin, they too must have waited to see what the Commander had to say first.

Odin snorted.

"So, the baby's father should come forward to face the consequence of this outrageous war...!" Odin said almost flatly, he didn't have to let out a booming voice like before to make a booming effect.

Everyone gasped and a frantic murmur started like a wave behind the two Lords, while Odin only smirked evilly watching the two Lords' and the Darque Lady's faces showed different degrees of shocked and disbelief.

He almost chuckled out loud in enjoyment.

"Odin!"

That one flat voice stopped the murmur instantly; Odin's left brow twitched when the spectators' eyes now focused back to the demon behind him still standing on the porch. They must be surprised when the demon didn't call him 'master' or any kind of title alike, but only his name; his first name, even.

Odin refrained from sighing, so much for setting the mood (in this case, fear), his mind grumbled; and paused whatever he was objecting about when he saw the demon presented the baby with both arms stretched forward.

_It's wet now_. The demon stared him with _that_ kind of eyes, but Odin didn't see his stare, he was staring at the baby's bundle dripping warm liquid to the porch's wooden floor.

The happy baby cooed and laughed by itself for the relief.

A strange black bird flapped its wings on the tree trunk at the front of the rest house; sounding like 'ca-cow... ca-cow~woo' several times.

. . . . . . whatever that meant in the bird's language. Odin frowned in exasperation, he wanted to face-palm but didn't let the spectators had that satisfaction.

The baby-maid reflexively moved forward with a large cloth-bag slung on her shoulder, she stopped when Odin glared deaths at her, and frightfully handed the cloth-bag to Odin's demanding hand.

"The three people who feel most responsible for this issue can come inside!" Odin said flatly annoyed when he walked into the house followed by the demon still with the dripping baby-bundle in his hands.

* * *

><p>A surprised squeal.<p>

A low humming sound in thinking.

A short baby-chuckle.

A tsk.

A long baby-coo.

A low complain-snort.

Another baby-chuckle.

A hostile grumble.

He stared flatly at the three pair of eyes staring at him with different grades of fear and other mixed feelings.

A silent exasperated curse and a happy baby-laughter.

He gave in to the three people sitting around the wooden table in the living room. "I'll tell him what to do...!" then he left to the kitchen sink where his owner trying to figure out how to change the baby's diaper.

"You do it...!"

He stared at Odin's annoyed but defeated frown, looking like the man was actually accusing him for the blame. He blinked.

"I don't touch babies."

"I don't think you could make one, but at some point you should now to handle them because someday you might have one, too." Odin said presenting a dry rumpled diaper cloth to his demon.

He only stared at the man lifting his chin stubbornly at his own words. What's with that reasoning suddenly coming out of nowhere in broad daylight? He wanted to point out to the man that it was him who wanted to take the baby in the first place, but decided it wouldn't help the situation.

". . . babies have protection aura against certain powers." he explained the prologue of the summary; _only_.

Odin's left brow pulled up from its frowning. "You'd get cursed if you touch a baby?" his intonation was skeptical.

"They get cursed. Their protection aura will be soiled and would bring misfortune to them when they get older."

Odin paused for a moment, tilted his head a little. "That's just superstition...!"

"That's what they believe. Faith made things true to some extent."

Well, if it's said that people might shun the child just because the child was touched by a demon's hands as a baby, perhaps that could be counted as misfortune. Odin arched his shoulders in uncaring gesture; then he proceeded battling the diaper cloth ignoring the baby's laughter and happy squeals finding his failing effort as a game.

He watched the man for some time, and eventually took pity for the people who were waiting for them anxiously and told the man what to do with the abused crumpled cloth.

* * *

><p>"Oh...!" the Darque Lady stood up when Odin came to the living room with the baby in his hand; his demon tailing not too close behind. She looked like she wanted to jump Odin and claimed her baby back but refrained when she realized the demon's eyes were on her, as if knowing what ran in her mind.<p>

The two young Lords stood up too when they saw Odin, glaring at each other while stealing glances at Odin and the baby, ignoring the demon all the same. Perhaps thinking that demon wasn't an issue when its owner hadn't made use of it as an issue. The air turned several grades heavier and the Lady finally decided she needed a seat after Odin stood by the end of the table.

"What will you do with the baby?" the Roude Lord asked fast; he looked more concerned than the Darque Lord and perhaps that's already saying something. Odin snorted.

"Sit." he ordered flatly.

"Commander,...!"

"Please be seated, and we could discuss this in a more civilized way...!" Odin growled low in a way that was far from a civilized conversation.

"So, first of all..." Odin started when the three people already seated back; "I want to know who started to attack first."

The two Lords frowned with stubborn faces looking at some places else. A heavy pause settled down and the baby ignored them, jolting in Odin's hand trying to reach the demon behind the man's back. He tried to ignore the baby for some time, but apparently it was negating his Lords-punishing-mood.

"Enough, already! That's _my_ demon, not your fancy-toy!" Odin growled holding the baby in front of his face and glared treats at the cooing baby.

"I'm not your fancy-toy." he quipped flatly at his owner but no one gave attention to his words.

Baby knew fear _not_; that's what the Commander must learn before he tried to intimidate a baby; that's why most parents should teach fears to their children. Odin narrowed his eyes at the baby when it spit on his face; the Lady fidgeted when Odin growled, but then he chuckled delightfully.

"You little devil-...!" and a baby foot kicked his chin up. The demon narrowed his eyes when his owner hissed at the baby; pick someone your own size, he wanted to say but on the contrary, seeing his hardened battle-man of an owner losing his fight to some delicate creature many times smaller than his own size was something he'd never seen before; and it amused him to some extent.

The Darque Lord cleared his throat. "...Commander." he looked like he wanted to escape the uncomfortable situation with his brother and his own wife being in the open about his internal problems with a demon as a spectator too.

"What?" Odin snorted none too friendly; "No one gave the Devil enough attention before, look how energetic the imp now...!"

"...uuunghhhh...!" the Darque Lady moaned her complaint hearing how Odin called the baby. "Please give the baby back, Commander...!" she pleaded.

"Did you give birth to it?" Odin asked flatly.

The Lady widened her eyes at the sudden straight question. Odin smirked at her with an 'I thought so' stare. The Darque Lord scowled and fidgeted in discomfort, and was seemingly using all of his self-restraint to stop himself from fleeing right then and there. The only one looking calm enough between the three people was the Roude Lord; now, Odin set his eyes on him more.

"Does anyone of you know the baby's mother?" he asked flatly.

The Darque Lord snorted and stood up in irritation. "Commander, do _**I**_ really need to be here when you discuss about the baby?"

"Yes; SIT!" Odin growled glaring furiously at the young Lord. By the looks of it, the Darque Lord had set his mind believing his wife cheating on him by having an affair with his brother, so he wouldn't want anyone stating it the other way.

The Roude Lord was only blinked and still frowning.

The Darque Lady was looking very anxious now that she realized every eye in that room realized her anxiousness.

"M'lady?" Odin asked.

"NO! That's _my_ baby, I dare anyone say otherwise!" she said with do-or-die valor, looking Odin straight in the eyes.

The room fell silent for a short moment, and somehow the Darque Lord (who obviously having some lame value despite his smart looks when associated with jealousy) who'd known his wife's character after years spent together finally realized that she was hiding something not because of guilt, but because she thought it was something she'd sacrifice for.

"Ellemia...!" he called looking bewildered.

The Darque Lady flinched and stared down at the table stubbornly. "DON'T! I told you to stop this _stupid_ war, but would _anyone_ of you listen? NO...!" she said exasperated, fighting back upset tears.

"But... I thought you said...!" the Darque Lord stammered.

"I said...!" the Lady gritted her teeth, her tears fell down eventually, she was really hurt because her husband didn't believe in her and just jumped into conclusion without hearing her reasons first. "I said... I should thank Gods for they sent your brother to our family as a blessing; why did you suddenly decide I was having an affair with him?"

The Roude Lord arched one of his frowning brows hearing that admission; he was known as a lady-killer, but... "You're not my type." he quipped conversationally.

"Shut up!" the Lady snapped at her brother-in-law, and he pretended like he never responded to that subject anyway.

"So you've just heard that part of the story?" Odin asked the Roude Lord.

The cool-looking Lord stared Odin for awhile. "Yes, Sir."

"So what made you sent your army into this war?" Odin stared back at his half-bored looking stare. The Roude Lord stared Odin for some more time, then snorted.

"He insulted my mother!" and glared at his brother on the opposite site of the table. "Granted, my mother was sold as a slave by _your_ barbaric people who find kidnapping girls of _my_ people as a fortune-bringer job; so she worked in a tavern. But this Royal half-brother of mine kept insulting her as a prostitute who bought her way into his Royal father's bed with adultery...!" he barred his teeth at his brother in utter disgust. The Darque Lord grimaced and took the bait.

Odin slammed his fist onto the wooden table before another war broke in that room.

"So, whose baby is this?" he asked matter-of-factly.

The both Lords looked like suddenly being poured by a bucket of ice water; they widened their eyes and snapped their heads to the Lady.

"M'lady?" Odin urged flatly.

She gripped and loosened her fists on her dress for several times, fighting her reasons and excuses. "Friggurd's." she said in a blow of breath.

"Mine?" the Roude Lord asked incredulously.

"Stop faking it! You knew that was _your_ baby from the beginning...!" the Darque Lord stood up and slammed his fist on the table.

"I responded to your war because your untrue insults to my mother, and knowing that baby that's supposed to be _yours_ had my people's traits; so actually it was your wife who was doing-...!" the Roude Lord stood up and slammed his fist on the table too, but he caught himself before he said the last words; gasping and hurriedly turned his face to the Lady. "I apologize for what I was about to say!"

The Lady chuckled ironically. "It's alright, Frigg; you're a too sweet person since the first time we met. I really don't care what other people thought about me. It's what my own husband think of me, what matters...!" she swallowed her bitterness, and wiped her new falling tears from her eyes and cheeks.

She took a deep breath.

"I'm an imperfect woman, Husband. I couldn't conceive a child...! But I love you so much I'd do whatever it takes to keep you mine. As a ruler, you must have an heir to succeed your land; and the court would find another wife for you even if you wouldn't want another one, even if you would decide to not cast me away. But if she gives an heir for you, then you would eventually love her more. I don't want that, Husband." she paused and wiped her tears.

"But it's in vain. Not only losing my Husband, I even caused other families to suffer..." she chuckled in bitterness. "Commander, the one responsible for this war is me. I'll come with you to the Palace and face the consequences, please spare _my_ baby...!" she said in resignation and stood up, then ran to the kitchen to cry her heart out.

"Wha-... wait, Ellemia...!" the Darque Lord stammered in shock, and was about to chase her but Odin's glare stopped him.

The Roude Lord had an almost similar shock on his face, as Odin's glare directed at him in turn he tried to formulate some words but failed.

"You don't even know you had a baby?" Odin asked flatly, with enough accusing tone.

The Roude Lord blinked and searched his mind in shock. "I... might have... or not; ...I'm not...really..."

Odin narrowed his eyes at that answer; well, news was that the Roude Lord had many companions, and the said person might realized it too that Odin had known that part of the news.

"You said outside, it was your baby when my demon held it." Odin stated.

"Well, the baby has my people's traits; so every baby of my people is my baby...!" he fidgeted.

"Only babies of your people? How about babies of his people?" Odin flicked his head pointing at the Darque Lord, who in turn squirmed at the question. They both silenced for several breaths span, mulling at the soft reproach.

"I..." the Roude Lord started, he reflexively thought that he had to point the discussion back to the problem at hand.

"But I have good communication with my ladies, so surely... if any of them was... they'd tell me.." he tried, beaming a little, then frowned in disapproval; "...or not...". He trailed off knowing the answer himself. He usually chose companions of the girls from his race, since he'd freed his people from slavery to be common labors, but they were usually still striving in the society and most of them opened taverns and other low-market businesses. The females of his race were picky and strong-willed, and known for their high pride; so if ever one of them conceive his child they might not tell him until she become an equal of him on her own. And the chance for such a thing could happen to her was... now that he was a Lord...

He closed his eyes and blew his breath slowly.

"I'm sorry Commander; it seems that this whole thing is my fault, after all. I'll come with you to receive my punishment. Please return that baby to my sister-in-law; that baby will need a mother." he smiled.

"Hey, wait a minute. Why are all of you suddenly deciding that on your owns? What about me? I'm a grown man, I take responsibility for my actions too...!" the Darque Lord pointed an accusing finger at his brother; his brother rolled his eyes in condescending way.

"Ha! You? Since when?"

"As if you're one to talk...!"

And Odin stared the brothers bickering with disturbed droopy-eyed frown, albeit he didn't say anything for a long time and just watching the young Lords doing not-so-mature spats. There's one thing still running in his mind and he just wouldn't be satisfied until anyone gave him the answer.

Since the mother was not the Darque Lady, and even the father of that baby didn't know which woman gave birth to that child, and seemingly the Darque Lady would take the mother's identity to her grave, probably being part of their agreement. _So, whose baby is this?_ He asked the Fates in his mind, but the Fates somewhere not in that room didn't bother to answer.

* * *

><p>The Darque Lady wiped her tears hastily, feeling angry at herself that she couldn't do anything right, that she was an incomplete woman which was the root of this whole mess. She blew her nose and crumpled the soaked handkerchief in her hand, but when she turned to her left she found a glass of fresh water already waiting for her on the kitchen table, together with a towel from the baby cloth-bag and a baby brush.<p>

Reflexively she turned around and found the demon standing behind her, giving her the needed distance between them. She stared at the demon not staring her; he was staring at the glass of water without a word. She took the cue and thought she was indeed in need for a drink, and sipped the water slowly.

It was sweet.

She arched her brows a little in surprise.

...subtle sweet tasted with a touch of ginger scent and a taste of flower nectar which she couldn't really identify. The cool water calmed her and the warmth of the ginger lifted her mood a little. She smiled at the effort. Taking the towel she wetted it with some water from the pump at the kitchen sink, and used it to wash her face and then she brushed her hair a little. That wasn't much but she felt some of her spirit renewed.

She stared at the demon from the mirror above the kitchen sink. He wasn't demanding nor judging. "Thank-you..." she tried a smile at him.

"...so that's how it feels..." she spoke as if to herself, staring at the kitchen pump dripping small beads of water; "...to have someone guarding your back...".

She stared at the demon through the mirror again. "Your Commander must feel safe having you behind him most of the time..." she gave a sad smile. The demon only blinked, as if he didn't understand that she was implying her praise and gratitude; she let it passed.

"There's something occurred to me when I saw you holding my baby the second time on the porch outside..." she started, looking at her hands. Turning around slowly, she walked towards the demon and took his right hand in both her hands.

The demon stared down at their hands and stared back at her face. "I didn't touch your baby with my hands." he said stoically.

She smiled. "I know..."; and reached out her right hand to brush his cheek.

The demon reflexively took a step back avoiding her touch. She looked saddened. He blinked.

"There's something occurred to me seeing you closer..." she repeated; "That when humans abhorred demons' touch, perhaps you resent ours too."

He blinked at her. She searched his face for a moment and gently let his hand go. "You must be living a hard life, Mr. Demon..." she nodded to him and walked back to the living room.

He stared at the Lady from the end of his eyes; when she got into the living room, he looked down at his right hand with palm open.

Her scent still wafted from where she touched it.

A slow lick from the base of the palm to the end of middle finger.

His hunger responded to the teasing.

He growled low savoring that feeling.

Humans often had misconception with his species, thinking that they were tricksters who love to plot treasons when they're actually loyal creatures with unwavering faiths; or as swindlers who would devour human's hearts or souls when their heart weakened. They said a demon would hunt a troubled human in their weakest time... how very absurd; even humans wouldn't eat a sickly and almost-rotten bony chicken for food, they'd rather have a fat healthy chicken when it was fresh killed.

There was no one more high-spirited and steadfast than Odin in the Palace, the man's resistant to demons was even one of a kind; Odin could survive him fine without so much of a side effect even after living with him for years.

"I don't understand what you implied..." he closed his eyes and licked his palm a little more; "...that man is my food, human-female...!"

A shiver wrecked his body for several seconds; he opened his eyes slowly and quenched his hunger down. No need to continue teasing it for now; when the humans had gone he could have his ransom soon.

His wings twitched in anticipation.

His lips pulled in a ghost of a smile for a moment.

* * *

><p><em>Saru's note:<em>

_museum's project hasn't started... used the time for writing a little. he he he_

**thanx for reading**


	5. Chapter 5

**Another **** 21 oct'11**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 5**

Odin snorted with a closure sound as the Darque Lady took her seat again, her husband tried to call out to her but his voice failed him, and she ignored him all the same, already prepared of hearing the consequence of her faults.

"So, M'lady...-" Odin sounded like he was still curious, and she knew what his question would be.

"I will never answer that question, Commander. Even if you say that the person you're asking for would never be involved in this mess; I've promised that-person that I will take that baby as my own child, and so that meant that that-person compelled to sever the connection with that baby." Darque Lady said calmly, staring down at the table; her commitment was unwavering.

"Hnnnnnnh... I was just curious, actually..." Odin muttered, then arched his shoulders. "Well, if you say so, then it shouldn't be my business to pry in that matter. What I'm going to ask of you now is how much you do feel you're obliged to repent for this mess." Odin glanced at the two young Lords too.

"...Sister-in-Law, I will take the responsibility for this-"

"Shut up, Frigg!" The Lady raised her hardened voice and turned her glare at Roude Lord, daring him to try and take pity on her.

"I launched the first attack...!" Darque Lord gave in. "Friggurd was only defending his land from my men. I'm not suitable to be a ruler... moreover a father..." the last words was said silently as if he said them to himself.

"Wait, Husband...-"

"That's a fact, Ellemia...!" he smirked at his wife's bewildered face. "So, Commander; if you take me to the Palace for punishment, my seat will be empty, and The Court of my seat wouldn't try to find me another wife even if they know the hearsay about my wife's condition..." he paused, glancing at his wife's paled caught face; "...and this land should be united once again into one under the rule of my father's blood. That's the ideal summation of this whole matters, is it not?"

The Roude Lord frowned in dislike; "What's this? You're trying to act like a wise man all of a sudden?". 'My father's blood' was not the same as 'my brother', that he knew, for being the target of his big brother's allusive degrading words for life.

Darque Lord glared at him with popping veins; "I'm saying you're father's son too, so The Court wouldn't have any right saying you couldn't take the Lord's seat over my land, too, you womanizer idiot!" he admitted with barred teeth but adding the last parts were easier to let out.

"Khhh!" Roude Lord gritted his teeth at the last words he got, but a little part of his heart realized that his half-blood brother acknowledged him as an equal, which probably much harder on his big brother's side instead of his.

"I will never take pity from you...!" he accused with poisonous glare.

"And you dare take my caring for you as an insult and slap it back on my face-!" Darque Lord showed his haughty dislike over his half younger brother openly again, and seemingly ready for another war.

Odin kept his lips thinned and glanced at the Lady; surely this was not in any way the suitable atmosphere to raise a child. For some reason he felt sorry for the woman for even making herself be the wall between those -idiotic Lords- brothers for seemingly a long time now, and his kind heart pushed his irritation back a little.

The baby cooed as his demon entered the living room with a tray of three cups of water. Odin stared without a word as he put one cup in front of each person on the table then pulled back and stood behind him.

"Alright, as seemingly each of you _now_ want to take responsibility for this war..." Odin began, "I'll leave it to Fates who should be the most responsible and who'd take the consequence for it."

All three pairs of eyes stared at him with surprised imploring stares.

Odin smirked.

The baby cooed facing at the demon, ignoring its 'parents'.

"So, in one of those cups there should be the cursed-water-of-Repentance..." Odin continued glancing apathetically at the surprised faces staring him.

"...Repentance?" the Lady muttered.

"That cursed-water will cast down punishment according to the scale of one's fault; or guilt for that matter...!" Odin glanced at the paling Darque Lady.

"So..." Odin smirked in enjoyment, "If anyone of you thought that either one of you was guiltier than themselves, they're allowed to ask that person to switch their cups... either to save that person or to save themselves from their own guilt." he paused waiting the weight of his words to sink in into the people's minds, enjoying the different grades of paling colors slowly covered their faces.

"Thus, I invite you to drink the water my demon had prepared...!" Odin almost chuckled outright, though it was the baby's happy laughter as it tried to reach out to his demon which gave the final impact.

Three faces stared him with fright, and words were lost to them. Odin chuckled evilly in his sadistic mind; his demon recognized the pleasure wafting from his owner and said nothing.

The three people snapped their faces at each other, trying to measure their past faults and wrongdoings, failing miserably to decide who was guiltier than whom.

"...Si... Sister, I'll drink your cup too so you don't have-" Roude Lord said in trembling voice.

"I'll take mine and halves of their cups...!" the Lady cut in a blow of breath, though she knew she couldn't save her beloved people but she thought at least she'd be able to burden halve of their curse if it were in their cups.

The Darque Lord knocked his cup over and watched the content flowed and spread on the wooden table.

"Dear...!" His wife called out to him in anxiety.

"This is ridiculous...!" the Darque Lord turned his angry face at Odin; "I said I'll come with you to the Palace to atone for my sins, for what more reasons do you want to drag my family down...?"

Roude Lord's head snapped at him hearing that admission; "_Now_ we're family-?"

"YOU'RE NOT MY BROTHER...!" the Darque Lord stood and flung the other two cups in a sweep. The Lady jerked as the water splashed at her, not because of fear for the curse but because what she thought she couldn't take the water in place of her husband anymore.

The Roude Lord's face was wet with the dripping water, but his eyes widened in shock because of the straightforward rejection said to his face.

"You're supposed to be a lowlife of a slave-boy dragging his feet on the street if my father hadn't taken a liking to your mother! How come you're better than me in everything without making as much effort as I did? You put my mother's grave to shame and divided my country in two and stole my people's trust and turned it against me, SO FOR ONCE LET ME DO SOMETHING THAT YOU COULDN'T DO AND SHUT UP ABOUT IT!"

"Dear Husband...!" the Lady instantly ran to his side and covered him with her embrace, her tears were flowing; as the Darque Lord tried to compose his hard breathing down he realized he was so enraged he cried.

Enraged... or despairing.

Perhaps both, he couldn't decide.

The Lady sniffled, "Commander, please, let me atone for all this and forgive my dearest ones-..." she pleaded with all her heart at the Commander but was stopped short as another set of three cups of water was presented on the table by the demon.

She stared at the demon with shocked disbelieving eyes; she thought he'd showed some compassion back at the kitchen, but perhaps it was just his obligatory task, anyway.

"This man is using me way over my value, humans. It's just fresh water to cool down your throats." the demon said flatly without staring at anyone's eyes.

Odin waited for a couple of seconds before chuckling in pleasure; then he dragged another chair and sat, ignorantly going to put the baby to sit on the puddle of water on the table. The demon grabbed the baby by the clothes and hurriedly pulled Odin's cloak end to wipe the table before they had to struggle with changing the baby's diaper again. The man didn't care less about his wet cloak, as long as it wasn't from the baby...

"Now, I ask you..." Odin started again, "Why did each of you afraid to drink that water in _every_ cup? I thought I said it was only one cup filled with the cursed-water?"

A few breaths span of pause. "So by now you all have realized that this is not one person's wrongdoing?"

"That's why I said-...!" the two Lords surprisingly said together. Odin held his hand up to stop them.

"To make atonement for your sins to the Palace?" Odin smirked mockingly, "Are you sure that's the ones you should be atoning your sins to?"

"By far, the Palace only suffered endlessly-irritating news about your useless war, and some fresh-goods distribution got delayed on the way and the people had to buy not-so-fresh goods in the capital's market and our whiny-General complaining non-stop about his salads smelled like rubbish and his wine cellar missing supply-...!" Odin paused there when his demon swatted his shoulder with the wooden tray. If the General heard his owner calling him 'whiny' in front of some bordering Lords, he'd be more than reprimanded harshly, he thought.

There were three pairs of shocked eyes blinked in confusion.

"Who are the most suffering subjects in this matter?" Odin asked seriously.

The baby cooed playing with one of the three cups and spilled some water on its foot.

"...-ah..." the Lady sighed in guilt and looked down, ashamed as she felt the Commander knew what she felt.

"Go ask atonement from each of them; and I mean _each_...!" Odin frowned giving enough pressure to his words without sounding like he was actually forcing them to do it; "I'll give you two months to make _everything_ right!" A condescending smirk, "...or close to right!" he added as a second thought.

"After that, I'll expect you to report yourselves to the Palace, with the baby along, and show your goodwill and constructive actions towards your lands and your people; and probably the General would take pity on you and give you light punishment without anyone has to suffer. But..., if by then things are still in this messy state, than you shall face **Master** himself, and I don't belief the General would try anything to help your case. How's that sound?"

At three uncomprehending faces directed at him, Odin asked again. "Two months is not enough?"

Then the three people jerked to realization and started to say their questions and answer together.

Odin pulled out his hand again to shut them up in irritation; "_Yes_ or _no_?"

"Yes!" three voices said in unison. "Definitely yes, Commander...!" the Lady added in relief tears.

Odin studied their faces and decided he was satisfied enough with what he found. "Good!"

"But just for your information..." Odin scratched his chin with one hand as if in contemplation, "I, myself, really hope you'd mess up so I could have my way with you lot before handing you to the General, later." he added in conversational tone, sounding like half-thinking to himself.

The three people paled again and worded their promises of commitment in the same time eventhough Odin already stopped caring about what their voices were saying. He couldn't care less about the frightened people in front of him because his demon was letting out strange air behind him it almost sent chills down his spine.

The sudden interaction with human-strangers might have pulled the demon's strings the wrong way, he thought; he better sent the people -and their soldiers outside- away soon before the demon decided he was hungry.

"Alright, with that settled, I expect you to put your words into actions right away!" Odin closed and stood up, picking the baby with both hands as if it was a bowl and added, "There, kid; pick your parent...!"

The baby cooed in incomprehension as it was lifted from the table and jerked its feet in excitement, knocking down the (new) three cups and jolted happily trying to reach the demon. The room fell silent as Odin narrowed his eyes in irritation, now seemingly started to regret ever having his demon to take the baby; the demon was staring mutely at the falling water from the edge of the table which started to flow on the floor to where he was standing... talking about doing the same work twice for nothing besides more cleaning work.

"...the baby's not wet...!" Odin said flatly trying to smooth out his demon's thought, not bothering to look at the expressions of the other three people there.

* * *

><p>"What's the matter?" Odin asked flatly.<p>

The demon acted like he didn't hear the question, presenting his back to his owner to read all by himself.

Odin frowned, "You've been acting strangely since you returned to the living room after the Lady back then... Did something happen?"

His demon didn't look like he cared to give an answer, so he stood up from the dining chair and walked to the demon.

"Heero?"

The demon dodged the man's tilted face trying to see his face, turning to his left with a tray of foods in hands as Odin's hand placed on the kitchen table guarding the exit at his right side. He stood beside the dining table after arranging the food for the man, all the while averting his eyes from the man's examining eyes.

Odin frowned deeper, studied his demon for a while and took his seat back at the dining chair. "Well? Aren't you going to sit down?". The demon didn't eat food like him, but he usually sat with the man companying him through his meal when he was around at such time.

The demon was still silent for several breaths span; "I'm going to see how Lix is doing." he eventually said and left the man without giving him time to react.

The humans and their -unnecessary- troops had gone from the rest house and only left trails and shoe prints on the soft ground around it. He stood in front of the house on the trampled soil and stared down, bent down to straighten a crumpled grass leaf.

"Flying's good." he muttered to himself as he casted his eyes to the rest of the trampled grass and small plants around the house, though it's not like he flew everywhere too just for the sakes of not trampling some greens. "Keep strong." he mumbled to the grass he'd straightened as he wiped the dirt off of it.

The strange black bird from this noon was still on the tree near the resting house and the demon stared at it for a while. Lix had stopped its whistle-dance and now balled contentedly under a big tree beside the house that was big enough to shelter it. He was only using the lizard as an excuse to get out of the house, so he let Lix purring happily alone. Turning his face to the other side of the house he stared at the open scenery of the hills and woods below, he moaned at the void inside him; the hunger he had now was different than the usual, he even felt like he couldn't stand the presence of his owner in the same room... he never felt like that before.

Something's missing... his wings unfurled letting the strong winds caressed them and ran through the soft feathers. His uncovered ears almost could make out the sounds he felt familiar but he didn't really catch them. It was the rustles of his wings feathers at the sides of his ears, he thought.

He closed his eyes, pretending he was hearing whispers known from long ago in the rustling feathers and a familiar weight circling his legs.

"What do you want, Lix?" he asked without opening his eyes.

The lizard was only giving him a light purr and put its muzzle resting on his feet.

They stayed like that for a long time until the snort of Odin's steed pulled them back to reality.

He frowned as the man readied his steed for the journey. "Aren't you going to take the night's rest in the house?"

"Something here made you anxious, so we're going to hit the road and rest in the woods." Odin said without looking at his demon.

"It's almost dusk." he stated flatly.

"So we should find a nice resting area in the woods before dark." Odin reasoned.

He silenced for a while, staring at his busy owner preparing his pack. ". . . are you angry?" he asked because his owner had returned to his usual curt toned speech like they were in the Palace.

"_Me_?" the man frowned at him with something flashing in his eyes, something he couldn't grasp.

He blinked at the man, and stared silently until he finished packing.

* * *

><p>The moon lit up the night sky and thousands stars twinkled in the vast dark-blue canvas up above; there was a ring of halo around the bright moon, eventhough it wasn't full yet; three bright stars lined themselves under the moon. Lix rumbled and shook its body in anticipation.<p>

He glanced at the celestial arrangement above and patted Lix's shoulder twice, knowing its thoughts. Sauria were natural sky-readers, even before demons or humans figured it out and made it as knowledge. "Suffocating, isn't it?" he whispered silently, as if to himself; knowing the lizard's hearing could hear him perfectly.

Lix rumbled low as an answer.

He thinned his lips tightly and pulled the reins, leaning his body forward and urged his lizard to take off.

Odin blinked as the lizard in front of him suddenly shot out and disappeared almost in an instant into the dark woods.

"Hey, Heero...!" he called out trying to calm his horse as it was surprised by the lizard's whipping tail when it fled. Once the horse in his control again, he urged it to chase the fleeing lizard along with its rider on its back.

The man tsk-ed when he realized the paths they took were not the usual paths travelers used; he didn't even know there were other paths along his way, almost hidden by crumbled giant rocks and sometimes fallen trees or covering shrubs. Those paths looked old enough to be abandoned long before he was even born. He gritted his teeth and trusted his steed to chase the lizard's tracks using its instinct. But he knew that if some monsters or demons showed up in large pack then he wouldn't be able to fend himself without losing the lizard's track.

A thought came to his mind; his demon treaded these paths as if he was familiar with the area, perhaps he was here before... but this deep in the human's territory?

Oh, that's right; he never probed his demon about how he was ended in the Palace, he thought it might upset him and the demon would create a defensive wall between them. Maybe he was playing it safe, but now he was thinking that he should at least knew what had really happened with his demon before they met.

A loud cry of an animal made him jump and reflexively pulled the reins. The cry was hoarse and almost croak-like, but it wasn't from a bird of any kind like he'd ever heard. There were more than one and sounded like they were travelling in the air and getting far; Odin loosened his grip on the sword-handle slowly. His steed kicked the dirt a couple times and bobbed its head, seemingly minded to make a sound; he rubbed the horse's neck calming it down, while checking his surroundings.

The trees were high and aged; vines grew abundantly and covered most of everything like a giant green tent. Most travelers would stop there fearing what were hiding behind the thick tent and turned around. Odin frowned at the scenery. To him it almost looked like a giant cauldron of green soup was poured over the area from the top of the ancient trees, and the green soup had flowed down covering the soil. The thought gave him a recalled image, Heero was taking a couple of steps back avoiding the flowing water from the table as it pooled on the floor and 'chasing' his feet.

He hmph-ed to himself; was that it? Perhaps something that made him reminded of this place. He smirked then, and chased that thought away from his mind; as if his demon was that melancholic over some spilled water. He urged his steed to go into the thick covering of the vines, using his sword to clear up some branches from their way; to his relief, the walk through the thick vines wasn't that long, while he was concentrating on clearing the way he'd forgotten the time somewhat and was surprise when a bright light reflected on his face.

The steed snorted long in relief.

Lix pulled its head up as if anticipating their arrival.

Odin narrowed his eyes and stared at the lounging lizard for some breaths span. Sheathed his sword back and got down from his horse; he blinked and used a hand above his eyes to shield them from the bright reflection. His left brow arched in surprise and curiosity.

"How the hell did you know something like this existed in this place?" he asked the lizard, which put down its head on the ground in front of its bent front legs again without answering in any way. Odin stared at Lix with a deeper frown; it looked subdued for some reason. He snorted and walked forward.

The cliff wall was high and daunting, standing grandly like a forgotten guardian from a far away time. The cliff was unseen from the clearing before the green tent vines area because the people's point of view was blocked by the high aged trees, and the structure of the mountain scenery didn't give any footing to view it from a higher point at the surrounding area at large.

His feet followed the narrow path between the jutting rocks and crystals; some crystal's surfaces reflected the moonlight to his face and he had to close his eyes as he passed them, minding to not tripped on the smaller crystals protruding from the rock floor. If any hunters or merchants knew this place, they wouldn't hold back and take everything; he thought as he measured the sizes of the jutting crystals. Raw as they were but already reflecting such small amount of light into bright sun-worthy shines.

He grinned at his own reflection on a mirror-like surface of a red crystal twice his height.

"...these will put any king's crown jewels into shame...!" he muttered somewhat overwhelmed by the place.

A clear and endless soft ringing sound brought his mind back from the crystals; he followed the path while his ears trying to catch that whisper-like ring and stopped as a wall of clear crystal presented to him inside the layers of rock of the cliff wall. His mind paused for another crazy-journey wondering if the whole cliff was actually made of crystal under its rock-surface; how much of a fortune would that be...? But he instantly ignored it, he wasn't really into collecting material items like most others, and decided to follow his instinct stepping into the narrow opening between the crystal layers, amazed at the toughness of the crystal substance as it managed to rip his iron shoulder armor open like it was made of thin paper when his muscular body somehow got caught in the narrow passage.

He was about to let out some curses out loud when he realized his snorted sigh was reverberated in the crystal cave and came back as booming gusting sound that made him jump.

"Ow, dammit...!" Odin covered his ears reflexively and realized his voice wasn't reverberated that loud in the cave. His brows shot up and his curiosity made him have to try blowing some air, which he regretted soon when the cave returned it back as a howling gale.

'...it's _wind_...!' he thought as he pushed himself through; most probably what had caused his demon to act unusual today, remembering the strong wind around the rest house area. His human hearing couldn't pick up the difference in the sound of gusting winds, so he wouldn't realize if some wind had some effects more than others.

Right after he finished his thought, a set of rippling lights reflected in the crystals caught his eyes. His cheeks felt a cool breeze passing through and as he walked into a round clearing he saw the sky presenting the glorious moon far above his head as the cafe roof gave a circular-opening like a large window. Looking down he found a small pond with dripping water from a curved crystal's tip above it; a single water bead dripped occasionally made the mesmerizing sounds throughout the cave. A gentle breeze blew from the opening of the rock cliff walls down the crystal tunnel and made that endless ringing sound, soft as a whisper, but perhaps loud enough for a lizard's ears. Or a demon's ears, for that matter; Odin frowned again as he found his demon balled himself in some sheltered corner.

Sitting down near the demon, he let time passed by while staring up at the bright moon until the rumbling of his stomach reminded him that he was a hungry mortal even in the seemingly timeless place like that one. He was sure his demon knew he was there, so he decided to go back to where his horse was waiting for him and made some dinner for himself outside the cave.

The horse grazed on some grass near him after he unloaded its burden, and he was almost had a jaw-drop when his horse huddled together with the lizard afterward. ". . . when did you get so close to each other like that?" he muttered and knew that his horse too could pick up what his human ears couldn't in that place.

"Right, it's kind of cold tonight, I'll let you borrow this..." he said as he covered the horse's back with one of his blankets he had. "You okay there, Lesard?"

Lix only gave him a lazy rumble in return.

Odin snorted; "What's with your rider, anyway... suddenly gotten his solitary streak kicking in such a journey...!" he mumbled while heading back into the crystal cave.

After washing up a little by the small pond, he hung his shirt on a crystal end and covered himself with two thick blankets.

"Heero, come here!" he said flatly, knowing the demon would crave for his body heat and come to him without needing to be ordered to, but he was a little worried that his demon acted like that; if he didn't know better he'd say that the demon was sulking.

Hell, he _was_ sulking; his mind retorted.

Sulking over what? For some reason he was angry that he didn't know the cause.

"Heero...!" his voice had finality to it, he wouldn't call out again, whether his demon came to him or not.

Odin reflexively counted the time until his demon moved, it was almost a full minute, but he waited patiently. Heero loosened his hands from hugging his legs, slowly, as if fighting his own rejection of doing so. Lifted his head from his bent knees and then paused; after taking some time he stood up slowly and took off his jacket and Odin's baggy shirt he still obediently had, discarded them uncaringly to the cave floor and stood in front of his owner with face casted down waiting for an order.

Odin didn't say anything more and just opened his arms for him; Heero looked almost like he was falling to his knees and as the man covered him with his arms and blankets the man jumped in reflex.

"Shhh-t, you're _COLD_!" he tightened his muscles against the cold and instinctively rubbed his demon's body with both hands; "There's no way you're okay; what's wrong?" Odin pulled the demon at arm-length with a hand but he struggled to get in contact with the man's warm body and ended up hugging him tightly with both hands digging at the man's back.

Odin frowned at his behavior, Heero was never active in showing his needs, which freely translated as the demon never hug him back even when he was starving for his life energy or just body warmth. And after cohabiting for such long years with such arrangement, to actually finding him this desperate to get something from him made him worried. As if proving his thought, the demon's fingers sluggishly clawed at his back, and he could hear the demon's sharp teeth grated on each other as he nervously pushed his forehead on and off against his left shoulder.

Or more like his neck. Odin thinned his lips as he felt Heero randomly nuzzled his neck and shoulder, though it seemed that he was fighting himself not to; if suddenly his demon developed his hunger for flesh or blood then he had to keep him away from the Palace. They'd slaughter him there.

He sighed and noticed that it didn't reflected back by the crystal walls.

"Heero..." he began carefully but with a steady voice, realizing that his demon's body was now trembling and he was moaning in pain every now and then; ". . . are you hungry for something more than just vital force or body warmth?"

His demon let out a long suppressed moan in rejection; it had sounded really suffering to him, so he tightened his embrace around the demon's small trembling body, willing his life energy to push through the cold pale skin but realizing the demon's body temperature only turned colder; if the demon himself rejecting to take his life energy, then he couldn't do anything about it.

". . . . . . . . . -fe . . ."

The demon mumbled something very silently between his teeth-grating and he'd missed that; "What?"

His instinct was alarmed when the demon instantly stilled. Odin held his breath.

"...LIFE!" the demon barked, and it reflected in a boom in the crystal cave; Odin almost jumped but the demon's hands clawing at his upper arms stopped him.

"What...-Life? ...female...-!" the demon continued in broken sentence; "...spouting insult...-?"

The man silenced, already grasping the situation; seemingly the Darque Lady had spoken something she didn't realize as a harm to the demon; while the demon, unusually, had taken it to heart. He glanced at the demon's trembling hands gripping at his upper arms, he was sure they'd leave bruises and welts there, perhaps on his back too. He made a note to hide them from his demon later when he's back to his senses again; because contrary to common's belief, the demon had a gentler heart even more than the gentlest human he'd ever met.

Well, at least he was half-relief that his demon wasn't developing hunger for flesh or blood.

"-Where... Life? ...-Mine...!" the demon pleaded and started to tremble again, butting his forehead onto the man's bare chest.

"Life not here...!" the demon snapped his face up facing Odin, and the man widened his eyes. "Not here! ...Life no here! -Mine...!"

He was crying...

"Heero...!" Odin was a little shaken, feeling the demon's forehead hitting his chest over and over; it actually hurt, considering the demon's energy flow was different than of humans. "Hey... calm down!"

The demon was crying tearlessly.

That's something he'd never seen; something he never actually thought he'd ever see.

"-Mine...! Where...?" the demon stopped butting his head when Odin hugged him tightly willing him to stop; but now his hands were clawing at his back again. "Where Life...? Give baack...! -Miiine...!"

"Heero..."

"Give Mine...! Wheeere...?"

Odin frowned grimly and tried rocking their bodies slowly. He didn't understand what this was about, but he knew his demon was desperate enough to let himself breaking down before him.

"Where Liiiife...? -Minnnne? ...give back...!"

"Liiife...! Give Mine back..."

"...-Miiine...!"

Not long the demon lost his strength and lied limply in the man's arms and blankets; sometimes he'd called out the word 'mine' voicelessly. After a long time not hearing that whisper anymore, Odin loosened his embrace thinking that the demon had fallen asleep and was surprised finding his eyes were open, staring back at him when he stared down. The demon's deep blue eyes had lost their color and turned like a shaded mirror, he could see his face reflected perfectly in them.

Odin broke his embrace then, intending to move his demon to a more comfortable position, and found the red-lines on his body had faded and turned a light grey color. He didn't know exactly what the red-lines meant, but he knew it had something to do with some demonic engagement or something like fidelity, something that had given him the will to survive. When they'd reach the Palace he made a note to look into it; he didn't really count on them but perhaps the ancient library books had something about Heero's-kind of demons. At least he thought the red-lines were of a spell or something alike.

"...I'm here; you can take as much of my life as you want...!" he said to his demon.

To his surprise the demon blinked slowly at him. So he was actually conscious, or _nearly_-conscious; he thought, and rearranged his demon's body to be more comfortable and was relief when he realized that his body wasn't as cold as before, and watched his glazed eyes blinked tiredly for a couple more times before he stopped moving altogether.

Odin sighed, the cave returned it as a whistling breeze; he decided he didn't mind the random sounds of that place and smirked to himself, then closed his demon's eyelids using his right palm. Somehow he felt like holding a dead body in his arms; he got that feeling sometimes, that's why he'd become a really light-sleeper, because his body was becoming sensitive to the slightest movement the demon made when they're sleeping together...because his body was anticipating his demon to move; so that he knew that his demon was still going to not-dead on him in the morning.

"...the Lesard is worried about you too, you know?" Odin muttered examining his demon's face, then decided he'd keep watch until morning; but soon after that the dripping sound of the water and the whistling ring of the gentle breeze in that place lulled him to sleep too.

* * *

><p><em>It was the various fragrances filling the air that woke him; the first thing he realized was the glassy-looking air, odd enough the over-abundance of light didn't hurt his eyes. It wasn't sunlight; it was as if the air itself was glowing.<em>

_His fever's down._

_The mattress was really, really soft it amazed him._

_The leaves made gentle whispers as the breeze passed through them._

_There were soft cottony seeds travelling in the wind._

_It was nothing like he'd ever seen before... this...everything. He wondered whether he'd really died and was sent to heaven._

_A pair of white wings answered his thought above his head; flapping a couple times and spread in full glory. Funny, he thought snakes don't have wings..._

_A cool palm cupped his left cheek; he shifted his wondering eyes to the owner of that hand._

_Long flowing white robe that was shining in the light._

_Four ends of long mufflers that were appearing to be dancing in a ceaseless imaginary wind._

_He thought he could see a real halo circling above the brown head above him._

_Then, that calming gentle smile blinded his eyes._

_There was a kind voice saying something his ears couldn't catch as sleep came claiming his consciousness back. But he vowed to himself he'd remember that voice forever..._

* * *

><p>Odin opened his eyes, he was instantly awake.<p>

The memory was fresh like it was happened in the near past, he's used to seeing it over and over again; but the last part was too clear for his mind to ignore, not when he was worried about the passive body he held in his arms now.

_Thinking of which_..., he looked down and found Heero's deep blue eyes were staring dimly at his face; there was something akin to jealousy flashed in his eyes before he burrowed his face on Odin's broad chest and covered his head with the blankets.

Odin blinked.

That dazzlingly smiling-face in his dream was undeniably Heero's; though he never saw Heero broke a smile even once... sometime when the demon thought no one's around, he'd smile a small yearning smile to the winds or the stars, but never to anyone. What had caused his demon to lose that smile, his mind was longing to find that out, but he couldn't ask outright.

"...so..." he decided he should at least try something; "...'care to tell me what this was about?"

A long silence answered him, then a mumbled "Shut up and rest." actually made the man chuckled amusedly.

Usually his demon would give him the silent-treatment when he didn't want to answer nor to care, but to actually say something bordering to an order back at him meant he was about to cross the demon's line.

Well, the man didn't care much about authority as long as no one's dying.

"Say, Demon..." Odin smiled, "I'm done with checking my border-men task; do you have anywhere else you want to go to after this?"

The demon peeked one of his eyes from under the blankets, giving his owner the accusing stare.

Odin smirked; "Alright, there was something more I was told to check out, but I could do it more efficiently without you needing my body in the process...!"

The demon blinked at the words said to him. It might as well sounded like '_stop clinging to me when I have a job to do_' or something alike, but his experience cohabiting with the man made his mind easily translate it as '_let's go sightseeing somewhere while the Palace pays for the journey_'; and he wasn't impressed.

"I could use the distraction in the Palace, but the wilderness kind of inviting my human-nature, you know?" the man arched one of his brows suggestively.

The demon's brows lifted about a millimeter and then drooped with almost a patronizing stare. "If you want to visit a brothel, I'll guard the door to your room." And his mind pictured that saying '_By the name of the Palace, clear the VIP room...!_' with a level face in some border-brothel would actually make the General (or the **Master**, for that matter) literally rolling on the Palace floor, laughing; but not some opposing dignitaries, they're hard to please as always.

Odin made a frowning face at that; "What made you think _that_...?"

The demon stared at him oddly, "...you want babies too, right?"

Odin blinked. The answer was beyond his expectation, though he thought as much about the demon. He examined his demon's face with an open stare, actually feeling glad when the demon looked like he was bothered by the scrutiny and hid his face again.

"Hoo..." he muttered with delightful tone.

"Hey, Demon..." he said silkily, "...you're just homesick." he accused openly.

There was no answer.

After waiting long enough and satisfied with the no-answer answer, Odin chuckled gladly and put his worries down for the moment. He wondered if babies had anything to do with triggering this happening, but he decided not to dig too deep for now; although the consciousness deep within his mind longed to see that dazzling smile again, soon if not now...

* * *

><p><em>Saru's note:<em>

_sorry for the absent; work's been hectic... should be grateful that the editor gave us more various genres of novels to be illustrated, it's just that comic-work's been suspended for too long and more various works means saru will need more time adjusting to the rhythm OTL_

_thanx to Cuzosu and Libsrevenge for the review, your comments gave saru the energy to write, because it's fulfilling knowing that all those time spent writing are not for nothing. heheh_


	6. Chapter 6

**Another **** 2 dec'11**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 6**

"Demon...!"

"Hey!"

"...Heero!"

A flick of a lizard tail answered the man.

Odin snorted and urged his steed to walk side by side with the lizard.

Lix looked behind at him with a lizard-frown, knowing what he was going to do.

"Shut up, Lesard!" Odin muttered while grabbing Heero's belt from behind his small waist and pulled the demon to sit in front of him. The horse neighed once but didn't seem to object having a demon on its back, it snorted at the lizard when Lix gave a stare.

"What's with you being so self-conscious, all of a sudden?" Odin frowned in annoyance.

The demon kept silent.

The man blew out a breath.

They rode like that for a couple of hundred meters more, in a picnic-pace, although the lizard looked to be too tense to be in a picnic-spirit, glancing back and forth at the dirt road ahead and its rider on the back of another animal walking beside it.

Odin stared at the lizard's head, a few too many times tilted at his side to catch a glimpse of the demon; when their eyes met, the lizard's visible eye perked up and he knew animals had more honesty in their eyes compared to humans. The lizard was asking him when he was going to give back its rider; Odin pulled the ends of his lips downward and the lizard ignored their arrangements for awhile longer.

Heero hadn't uttered a sound since the moment Odin woke up that morning.

The man was a little appalled when he found the demon was already waiting by the lizard's side outside the cave, ready to continue with their journey; while he thought he was conscious enough with the demon's every little movement when they're sleeping together.

Shortly speaking, that was the first time the man learned that the demon could slip away from his embrace without him even realizing. So all this time, the demon was just acting submissive; waiting the man to wake up and order him around every day.

A little mind whispered to his anxiety, if suddenly the demon wanted to stop being submissive, then would that mean he would want to walk away from their... 'sleeping arrangement' too?

Heero snorted. "Stop worrying; you'll attract beasts this way...!"

Lix rumbled in agreement.

Odin tsk-ed. "So what should I make of yesterday's event?"

"Forget it."

"Right. You had me worried more than the past years' worries collected together...!"

"That's why I said forget it, it won't happen again...!"

Odin couldn't see the demon's face but he could hear a pout in that last sentence. He wanted to ask more but not wanting the demon to feel that he's prying, although that's exactly what he's doing. He waited for some breaths span.

". . . so, who's 'mine'?" he asked conversationally. He could see the demon's head turned downward a few millimeters and his shoulders pulled up rigidly a little.

The lizard glanced at them with worried lizard-face. Odin glanced back at the lizard; he thought he heard the demon's teeth grated together for a moment. He didn't really care whether the demon answered him or not, so as long as the demon knew that he had asked that to him.

"...'life'?" Odin continued.

The demon's body was slumped forward and he was pulling the flaps of his fur hat down, like he could stop his ears to hear that way. "None of your business...!"

"You're going to hurt your wings like that..." Odin patted the top of the fur hat. "Besides, you can still hear me, anyway; so that 'mine' is like what...? Your fiancé?" the man ignored the demon's growl. He had his opening, the one that he didn't know existed in so many years, he's not going to back down now.

The man's evil side was tickled, but he reined it in a little; he didn't want to chase away the demon.

Odin grinned, he knew the demon felt it too; "You missed your fiancé so much, enough to leave welts on my back...!"

The demon's body jerked down more, Odin didn't want to use the guilt-trip, but he paid his due so he thought he deserved at least a little explanation. He was satisfied enough that it seemed to get to the demon, so he waited in patience for that guilt to sink in.

A meter down the road more, the demon slumped forward with both his shoulders sagged.

A couple meters down the road more, the demon's body already stooping forward like a drunk man on a horse.

A few meters down the road more, the demon's body was literally on the horse, flat.

Odin's brows pulled up with a skeptic stare. "...are you that embarrassed...?"

". . . shut up...!" the demon gave a hoarse bark. And Odin melted.

The man chuckled warmly and tried to pull the demon to straighten up; "Really? But it's alright...!"

"-No! I said forget it...!" The demon fought the man's arms in almost panic.

"Hey, it's alright! It's really alright, Heero...!" Odin was a little surprise that the demon fought his hands at all, but he couldn't let it go now.

"-No! Just shut up-...!" Heero's hoarse voice had tears in it and Odin instinctively wanted to check it.

The horse neighed in worry.

"I said, it's alright; calm down a little and hear me out...!" Odin covered the demon's eyes with his open palm; his other hand circled around the smaller body and pulled it to recline onto his front. Heero let out a long exasperated moan mixed with an angry growl at the end, and grabbed Odin's hand from his face.

"I'm sorry!" Odin said fast, "It's not my place to pry at that matter; I'm just being concerned. I won't pry anymore, so it's alright...!"

It seemed to work, the demon let out a choked sob, and his shoulders slumped immediately; with head still casted down, the upper halve of his face was covered by Odin's large palm; his hands trembled gripping at the hand on his forehead. Eventually he shrunk on his seat, resting the weight of his head on Odin's palm; in the end it's like he was using the man's hand to hide himself. He almost looked like he was praying on Odin's hand, like it was the form of an offered salvation to some regretful sinner.

The man silenced for some moment, noticing that the demon's body trembled a little; it wasn't embarrassment, it was fright, he could see it now. 'Mine' was someone he wanted to protect even from a far away land; someone he didn't want any human to find out. The reason he kept living, his _life_.

"Heero... I'm not interrogating you. Please don't be like that..." Odin tried a calming tone.

There was no answer.

"Heero?"

"Can't you forget that I'm a human for a moment? I'm really concerned... please?" the man tried again.

Lix rumbled its concern too.

The horse snorted low.

The demon tilted his head slowly, peered at Odin with an accusing eye.

Odin stared at the demon visible eye, there was something new there, shining fire that was swirling lazily in the blue depth; it was almost like hatred. Odin blinked... it was jealousy.

He didn't back away from that accusation; Odin smiled a little, taking it in; everything the demon ever threw at him for being human, he took it whole. That's why the demon followed him.

"Calmed enough...?" he asked after he noticed that the fire had died down to some extent.

The demon looked away from the man's face, pulled the man's hand from his forehead down to his chest, looking like he wanted to be embraced with both arms.

". . . . . . Life's not here. . ." he mumbled silently after a long pause, tilting his head to the side as if feeling the breeze whispered on his cheeks, and then closed his eyes.

Odin stared down at the long eyelashes on the ghostly white face at his front. The demon ended up resting his tilted head on his left upper arm, while holding the embracing hands around his chest. It's not every day his demon acted like a cat; a little mind in his head whispered that it's a premonition of a storm coming.

"...where?" Odin asked, he was just being playful with his curiosity at the beginning, but as his demon gave his opening in such form, he just said to any storm to come down but he's not going to let this moment pass in a waste.

"...back there." the demon said silently.

Odin frowned to himself, he didn't know if he'd threaded a political affair; so he wanted to know his safe line.

"Why?"

The long eyelashes fluttered open.

"Why not here with you?" Odin asked seriously to the deep blue eyes that were reflecting the sky like a mirror.

Heero stared at Odin's face for a few seconds, and then pulled the end of his lips up a little. "Why not... I wonder."

Odin's mind just blew up in his head. _Whaaaaat-? -that was such a SHORT evasive line-it didn't even need the effort to think of fiiiirst...!_ He kept his cool on the outside, though.

The demon closed his eyes in closure, like sighing but not really; and then let go of the man's hands and straightened his body. Odin's little mind was in frantic screaming 'the moment's gooone!' in his head, so he followed the urge and asked whatever came down to his mouth from his blank head.

"Does your Life know you're here?"

To his almost relief, the question made the demon pause his movement; so it's not passed yet...

"No."

...but the answer he got almost made him regret ever asking that.

"Mine... wasn't around for a very long time..." the demon's silent voice didn't waver, but sounded lonely enough; "...not knowing I was sent here, and..."

The demon tilted his head, "...not knowing... how much time had passed..."

Lix tilted its head to the demon the whole time.

"...but it's alright."

"...'Life' is not supposed to be here..." the whisper sounded distant.

Then the demon nodded once, as if hearing another person's voice reassuring him; although it might just be what he'd done to cope by himself all these years, Odin thought; seeing the dejected head from behind made Odin wanted to stroke the pelted head again.

". . . so, why don't you want to make babies yourself?"

The level toned question stopped his hand mid way. So last night's cycle of thought came back; he wondered why the topic went back to that again...

Odin chuckled, hiding his uneasiness; his idle hand sought the water bottle from the saddle bag instead.

"Why?" Opening the cap, he took a swig to close his question.

The demon's hands circled behind the man's body, catching the loose cloak ends and circled the cloak to the front to cover himself.

". . . in the crystal cave... you did drink from the fertility spring, didn't you?"

PBFFFFFFFFFFTTThhhhh...!

The lizard shied away from the sudden shower; the steed neighed in complaint.

Odin coughed and choked but still asked anyway, "I-...what?"

Heero let out an unexcited snort, flapping the relatively wet cloak to the sides before letting the ends go. "You didn't know what that place was?"

"...-whaaat?" Odin was still slobbering his chin and in turn took the cloak to wipe his mouth in reflex.

"Hmph. Well, it's not like you're going to get pregnant, since you're male." the demon's level tone didn't help calming down the man's nerves.

"PREGNANT?" -so that's why the cycle always came back to babies.

"I said you're not." the demon repeated.

They both silenced for some long seconds.

Lix peered curiously at them from their side.

". . . at least you should be able to succeed making babies in time comes."

"AAAAAAAGHHHH! I'm not going to make babies or planning to make them in time comes...!" Odin yelled in exasperation.

The demon arched his shoulders a few millimeters up; "Your choice."

"YOOOUU shouldn't have brought an _innocent_ naive man like me to such a place without warning first...!" Odin accused. He'd rather be sent to a brothel, his mind quipped... well, just for guarding some dignitary's VIP room still would be alright.

The lizard let out its lizard-laughter rumble again. Odin glared at it.

"IIIIII... shouldn't...-" he blinked, "...**didn't** drink from the spring in the first place...!" he realized and changed his tone right away. "Riiiight, I was just cleansing myself a little by the spring; I didn't consume the water!" he grinned victoriously.

"Oh. That's a waste. Don't you know people of old-wisdom came to that spring to have babies?" Heero snorted.

"By people of old-wisdom, you mean like the wizards or witches...?" Odin frowned, pulling his lips tightly downward. "...Why did you bring me there?" he asked suspiciously.

The birds chirped along the way.

The winds blew softly.

Some insects and butterflies flew nearby.

...So much for things to notice in such a pause.

"There was such a place back home too..." the demon said softly.

"Ancient-demons came to that place and make demons..."

Odin's brow twitched at the last part.

". . . that's where I started." the demon admitted.

"I missed Life so much; in such place where life energy centered from all the surrounding places and came flowing freely..."

The demon sighed.

"I just thought perhaps I could feel Mine, there..."

The man imagined the demon had said that with a melancholic sad smile, but he didn't; the demon suddenly stilled, the lizard leaned its long neck forward on low, as if by doing that it could see more clearly with its round eyes, its blue tongue licked the air slowly. Odin instantly alerted by their sudden changes; his steed rejected to walk any further down the road.

"What is it?" the man asked with an alert frown, one hand already at the hilt of his sword.

The demon tilted his head to the sides, as if feeling uncomfortable; "Thick..." he answered silently.

Lix frowned and barred its lizard's neat lines of small pointy teeth, like a dog sensing danger ahead.

The steed kicked the dirt a couple times, shaking its head in discomfort.

The demon held out his tongue a little, tasting the air; the wind didn't come from their front but he could taste it anyway. "...blood"

"Blood of fear..."

A pair of jet black round eyes watched them from a higher view. Odin pulled his sword from the scabbard a little.

* * *

><p>"-I... I can't fight...-!" A frightened whisper said in trembling voice. It was a young soldier with blood all over him; he was hiding with two of his comrades in a cranny hidden by the thick bushes.<p>

"Shhh! They could hear you...!" said an older soldier.

"...It's useless hiding here... they sensed blood!" the young soldier said in doomed tone; "...-and I just got married, too...!"

Another soldier was going to admonish him, but a sharp rustle alarmed them; they gripped whatever weapons they still had in their functioning hands tightly and prayed although with their blank minds.

A large head emerged from the thick bushes; the older soldier covered the wounded young soldier's mouth with his bleeding hand to keep him from screaming hysterically.

"...a snake! -a giant snake!" the young soldier mumbled as he was petrified when his mouth was released; while the older soldier looked a little relieved. It's the Palace's Sauria.

"How many of you at first?" a level silent voice asked.

"-the... the snake taaalks...!" the young soldier said in panic and the older soldier instantly covered his mouth again.

"8 soldiers on horses." answered the older one.

"Where are the other five?"

"So... somewhere in the woods near the intersection down there...!" the other soldier quipped and pointed somewhere northeast, he wanted to give a more accurate report but his mind didn't comply.

"There's an intersection with roads leading to Cessca Town, Midridge Fall, and Eld Village; between the roads leading to the fall and Eld were cliffs; some of them are not that visible... We were attacked by the cliffs..." the older soldier reported.

The lizard let out a silent rumble and left.

"Wait-!" the older soldier called back, "...there's someone else with us, he should be the priority...!"

"Understood." and a flick of a lizard tail fanned out in an instant left them.

"Shouldn't you tell him what attacked us?" the other soldier asked in half bafflement.

The older soldier looked uncertain a little, but said; "...it's alright...!"

* * *

><p>"We have to go back there and retrieve the master, or the General will hang our hides on the atrium's walls for everyone to see...!" the fourth soldier said in haste; he was hiding in a cave behind some collapse stone fragments making a natural barrier at its entrance.<p>

"Are you crazy? Look at how we're bleeding all over the place...! Those creatures will definitely mince us on the spot if they find us!" his comrade argued.

"We're bleeding, so those creatures could trace us down anytime! If they finished with their hunting they'll going to devour us too!" came the reply.

"But it's not _us_ they after...! We're wounded, we could say that we've tried our best to do our task but we failed, anyway! Let's not talk about gallantry right now; I have family back home, I'm not going to die here for someone I barely knew...!" the fifth soldier reasoned. The fourth soldier tsk-ed but he didn't find anything to counter that reason.

"...guys...!" the sixth soldier who had been sitting in the inner part of the cave called out, he was sweating a lot and trembling visibly; "...this is bad!" he smiled worriedly at his comrades when they turned their attention at him, "...I don't feel right; ...I think I've been poisoned...!"

"What...?" his comrades crouched down to him, and he dodged their hands.

"Don't touch my blood...!" he said fast.

The fifth soldier looked at the fourth, "Is it deadly? Can you tell...?"

"...heartburn!" the seventh soldier at the innermost cave cut them; "...can't you feel it, too? I think everyone's wounded got it...!"

The first two reflexively touched their chests; it's true, they've been having that unpleasant sensation for some time, but passed it as being nervous. They paled.

"We're not going to make it home, aren't we...?" the fifth soldier asked.

"I see, so that's why they didn't chase us; we're already dead on our feet. They just have to trace the blood scents back to our dead bodies later...!" the fourth said. "So at least we could go find the master and finish our task before that..." he stared his comrades in their eyes. No one appeared to have as much courage nor strength left to follow him.

He nodded in understanding, and sighed; "Well, at least I'm going to do it. Take care of yourselves!"

The man stood up and pulled out his twin swords from their sheaths, but the fifth soldier pulled at his tunic; "Wait, Lieutenant. You can't go alone!"

"You said you wouldn't risk your life for some stranger...!"

"No, no; that's not what I meant! I mean, we should go home together...!" the fifth soldier pleaded.

The Lieutenant snorted; "I'm making a diversion so you could get away, too. Go safely!" With that the man stormed outside the barrier rocks, leaving the other soldiers gaping.

About a couple of breaths span later there was a clang heard from the outside; the fifth soldier jerked to mobility and ran after his Lieutenant. He was ready to see the monsters which had attacked them, but when he's about to pass the barrier he heard a swish and felt the sharp wind on his right cheek and reflexively pushed himself back onto the rock as a dagger stuck on its surface about an inch from his face.

Monsters didn't throw knives.

"Lieutenant Cail! Gallant as ever...!" A greeting said with a big grin.

"Commander Odin...!" the Lieutenant was blocking Odin's sword with both blades, he had a deep disturbed frown on his face. "You've been eavesdropping from the outside...!" he accused.

Odin chuckled. "Fancy meeting you here...!" his grin showed too many teeth, with almost condescending stare in his eyes. He liked toying with this man.

"Commander! You've brought help...?" the fifth soldier's voice was too expecting.

"Huh?" Odin glanced at the man and pulled his sword back; "No." he answered and tilted his head behind one shoulder. "More like I brought your monsters here." he added calmly.

"What?" the soldiers who stuck their heads from behind the rock barrier asked in unison.

Odin sniffed at the back of his right hand. "Must be the scent of the demon on me...!"

"-. . . Commander!" the Lieutenant tried to hold back his anger. He appeared to be around late twenties or early thirties, with dark hair, and cleaner feature; quite the opposite of Odin's appearance, he was (to everyone's disbelief) almost 50 years old, eventhough he looked much younger with his very fit looking body, but gave out a savage aura around himself. If Odin didn't wear his attribute, people most likely mistook him for a ruffian; that's what the demon always said about his appearance.

They usually acted hostile towards each other; in Odin's part, he specifically liked bullying this man. The soldiers thought of them as each other's archenemies, too. The only thing that made them alike was that they both didn't have surnames; they started literally from nothing.

"I'm not letting you jeopardizing my men!" the Lieutenant snarled.

"Relaaax; I got the best help you can get...!" Odin waved his hand and sheathed his sword. "You better come back here before you got tangled in the fight!" the man called out as he walked to the cave entrance to check on the soldiers.

"-...aaaaaahh!" the soldiers gaped at the closing monsters surrounding the space outside; Odin really brought the monsters tailing him to that hiding place.

"Ugh...!" the Lieutenant took a step back but he considered his men's situation and decided to stand his ground and perhaps they could use the time to escape.

"Hey, Cail; I said come here!" Odin called out again; "You can't fight those things with your weapons!" he added matter-of-fact-ly.

_You're the one bringing these things here!_ Cail thought, but he didn't voice it. He gritted his teeth, the trees before him slithered closer; his ears heard a series of rattling hiss from behind his back and realized the spiky tentacles had cut off his escape route.

"...Commander!" the soldiers pleaded frantically in one whisper.

Odin stared them down with level face; "My weapon's the same with yours, it can't cut down those things!" he reasoned.

"We're going to die here- we're going to die here...!" one of the soldiers chanted with tears ready to flow from his eyes.

The monster-trees were about 3 meters in height, from walking-roots to foliages; not included the leafy branches that were long enough to drape down the barks. They had spiky long tentacles with poisonous stings, and a large flower-like mouth placed vertically at the middle of the bark, with lining teeth circling the opening in several layers. Although they really resembled trees, they were actually a type of animal close to arachnids; a different kind of mites, only hundred times bigger and hungrier, and with a different diet preference too. The barky-shells were very thick and hard that usual weapons couldn't cut; wizards used to shepherd them into a specific place and sealed the area with magic so that they won't devour humans. They were thought to be extinct nowadays... well, not anymore.

The Lieutenant readied his swords; one of the closing trees, the one closest to him, was about to open its flower-mouth; his logics thought that the thing must be vulnerable from the inside, so if he could launch an attack at the opening he might have a chance...

Odin snorted his sigh with a dissatisfied frown; "It'll be too late if that thing already opens its mouth...!" he muttered, ignoring the blanched soldiers beside him.

A sudden sharp rustling sound and a mouth opened _**very**_ wide shooting out from the high bushes; Cail only had enough time to widen his eyes, and before he could realize what happened, a whip-like sleek thing threw his body to the cave direction. The flower-mouth opened and splashed the rocky ground with a slimy liquid that melted it with a hissing sound.

Cail's body landed on a shrub on the cave's back, and slid down the sloping ground to land on four in front of the cave entrance. He still didn't lose his alacrity and instantly looked at the place where he previously stood. He gaped in disbelieve; there, between the smoking fumes and flailing spiky tentacles and whipping branches, a large animal was doing a rain-dance.

...Or so it looked like to him.

"That's an _extremely bored_ Sauria venting out its annoyance getting hyped-up...!" Odin said behind the Lieutenant. _You're lucky the lizard still remember to throw you away from that spot_, his mind thought but kept it to himself.

And it actually kind of raining slime at the time, so the men took refuge behind the rock barrier.

Lix was, true enough to Odin's choice of words, getting hyped-up venting out its annoyance; it was bordering to frustration, actually; and the monsters coming out of nowhere making its rider told the lizard to separate itself from him after finding the three soldiers previously was setting it off. Letting out its lizard war-cry endlessly, Lix bit and chopped and stomped and slashed the poor trees again and again; determined not going to stop until _any_thing stopped moving.

"See the crest and the fan-like fins on its head making iridescent colors?" Odin started, "It showed how much the lizard gotten hyped up. Basically, you should run immediately if any lizard started to make those color-changing."

". . . . . . I'm not trying to sound like I'm being ungrateful, Sir; but isn't the Sauria is more dangerous than those trees?" the fifth soldier quipped, looking like he shrunk more than before the lizard came.

Odin pulled his lips downward, staring at the men gaping at the battle sight.

". . . She's kind of beautiful, though...!" the seventh soldier said a little dreamily; which made his comrades' faces blanched at him.

"What? Don't you see...?" the man said in defensive tone, "Those scythe-like part of her front legs, the sharp teeth, the strong claws, the crest and fringes, the masterpiece-of-weapon-worth tail... every part of her body is made for fighting...!"

"Killing preys...!" Odin corrected half-caringly, "And all Sauria are both; if you can't decide to call it a 'he' or a 'she' then you could just classify them as genderless."

The soldiers turned wide-eyed at the Commander; "We're not classified as 'preys' too, right, Commander...?"

Odin looked annoyed for a moment, but he realized today's generation were not equipped with instinct to fight monsters just like the olden generations before theirs; he stifled a sigh. "I don't think the Lesard eats humans...!" he stated.

Lix's lizard war-cry had changed to irritated quacking now, the lizard let it out every time it stomped a still moving bits of slimy remnants of the monster-trees. Its lizard tail held up like a victory-flagpole while its hind legs doing the whatever-dance-left persistently. The end part of the tail fanned open, letting any spectators to see the eye-pattern similar to peacock's tail-feather on the luminescent membrane, opened from the fork-like end of the inner-tail; some people would be reminded to a wizard's staff, and some would say like a flower bud because the outer-tail that covered the inner-tail split open usually to three-quarter of the tail's length, looking like a pair of sepals above and underneath the fanned membrane. Unlike the common lizards that cut their tails to divert the predators, the tails of Sauria were the deadliest part of them; they held the powers which humans could only gain through magic, such powers like storm, heat or frost, depending to what species the Sauria was; some story even said that a certain type of Sauria could turn its opponents into rocks.

That was what most feared by humans that they classified Sauria as natural nemesis; while the demons, knowing the lizards' abilities and how to tame them, had used Sauria since centuries prior; which in time made the humans' prejudice against the lizards as 'demonic animals'; although most of the stories now were mostly too far exaggerated from the truth.

Odin sighed watching the lizard had finally calmed down; though Lix was still off-handedly stomping a large piece of tree daring the thing to move. The man didn't have prejudice against the lizards, but from the stories he heard since he was a dreamy child, he'd prefer a dragon if he could choose an eccentric-ride to have.

"-I... is it over?" the soldiers wondered out loud, eyes still glued to the lizard looking angry enough at the monsters.

'AAAAACKKK~! Kreeee! Kree! Quaaaack~!' Lix landed a series of kicks to the remnants it's still had a grudge to.

"It looks dead enough to me, Lesard...!" Odin said walking to the angry lizard. Lix turned its head to the man sharply and let out a long low rumble. "Your rider told you to stick with me, huh?" Odin tilted his body to the side when Lix extended its long neck to stare at the man closely.

"You're all slimy...!" he grimaced, "And it's poisonous, too. Go get bathed somewhere...!"

Lix shook its body with a long 'humming' rumble, closing its eyes like a cat; "Hey...!" Odin complained when the slime got splattered around him and he had to dodge some of it.

The lizard che-ed in its own lizard-way and took off to find a river or spring, its ears could hear the sound of falling water somewhere around the area, so it planned to just take a dip and immediately find its rider.

Odin stared the swaying tail vanished behind the tall bushes, and looked around wondering why the demon hadn't make appearance there.

"What were you doing in this place before the ambush?" he asked to the soldiers. They had caught looks on various levels and seemed like they had a hard time forming their answers.

"Hmph!" Odin turned and decided to find out by himself, he just had to trace back the blood drops, like what he'd done before to find the men in that cave. "I see; you messed up an important task, huh?"

To his delight (of his evil side), Lieutenant Cail silently followed him with an extreme discomfort on his face. Odin chuckled as he glanced back at the man.

* * *

><p>"Master... just leave me here..." the eighth soldier pleaded; "...you should run...!"<p>

"Stop flailing about; I have to stop the bleeding!" the person in a dusty-purple cloak said admonishingly and tried to push the man to lie down again.

"But, sir...-" the soldier tried and coughed up some brownish blood.

The master tsk-ed and took a small bottle from under his waistband, pulled the cork with his teeth and poured the content to the deep slash on the soldier's stomach that was gushing out bubbly black colored blood. There was a hissing noise when the clear bluish liquid poured down to the open wound; the soldier cried out in pain and tried to stifle it to a hard moan, though he didn't have the strength left to thrash about.

"I'm sorry..." the master said apologetically, "The pain should be better now...!" he added comfortingly.

The soldier breathed hard for some time, still feeling the echo of the excruciating pain, but he did feel that it lessened significantly. He nodded as he tried to take deeper breaths.

"I should take you to a village to get you better treatment, the poison is not nullified yet...!" the master said while pouring some red powder onto the wound and bandaged it with the soldier's torn cloak.

The soldier moaned and tried again; "Master, please leave me... My comrades will come back to find me, ...you should safe yourself...!"

The master made a dissatisfied frown, and gritted his teeth; "The amulet I put at the entrance will only work to keep beasts away if it's close with me...!"

The soldier opened his mouth again; but before he could say something, a big enough shadow landed in front of the cave entrance. In a swift, the shadow flung the amulet that was set on both sides of the entrance connected with a small chain onto the cave floor near the lying soldier.

The master instantly stood up but stopped charging when he saw it wasn't any beast standing at the entrance, it was a demon about his own height.

"You're the beasts' target?" the level tone was more of a statement than a question. The master gaped for a second and the demon instantly grabbed his wrist and pulled him out.

"Wait! What are you doing-?" the master yelled trying to pull his hand from the demon.

"He'll get help; you shouldn't be in the way." the demon said still levelly and pull the master with enough force to take him to run.

"I'm sorry! I'll divert the beasts away from yoou...!" the master managed to shout to the baffled soldier in the cave; then they both vanished by the cliff. A series of long cries heard and some large beastly shadows followed them down.

* * *

><p>Loud thunderclaps heard as the lightning flashed in the sudden darkened sky.<p>

Odin looked up as the wind got drastically stronger and the heavy black clouds stirred up in the sky. The man frowned.

"What? The storm's really coming...?" he asked skeptically in displeasure. He heard the beasts' cries not far away; as those shrieks sounded getting further and further, he knew his demon was not going to anywhere near him.

* * *

><p><em>saru's note:<br>saru-the-fever-monkey got down with typhus for about a month, just when we got another genre illustration order, too; it's for adult readers...! but not that-kind of **adults**! (chuckles) used the time to type-type-type instead of resting; but at first, we didn't thought it was something big too, saru is used to having fever, almost every-other-day if you asked Oni-tan(-the-monkey-on-the-bridge)... _

_type-type-typhus? it kind of works together! (lame, right?)_

_after three weeks of high fever (specially at night) saru considered checking it to the Doctor when saru couldn't get up at all one day at HQ (Oni-tan's house, near a bridge but not ON it), and we were a little stunned when he admonished us._

"_fever shows infection occurred in your body, if it heightens at night it means the infection is in your stomach...after 3 days with fever, you should check yourself to the doctor, don't wait too long; what if it was typhus?" or so he said, we wondered if he treated saru like a kid and Oni-tan as the substitute of mother (but, hey... we're just two weeks apart! what the...?)  
>and what if saru told the Doc that saru played with Mom's hamsters everyday at home despite having fever?<br>anyway, we told the Doc that saru got the fever up and down for a week, while in truth it was already passed three weeks; wondered whether he'd be angrier if we had told him that... hahahahah_

_the blood-test ripped us off; though the result astonished us-monkeys.  
><em>"_You got six types of typhus-germs...!" the Doc said, six from the list of eight from the blood-test result sheet.  
>tsk! should have scored it all for that fee...!<em>

_anyway, saru wanted to post at least one chapter every month, but the sick-leave kind of a present for the monkey too, so saru just give this as Christmas present... hehehehehhh (sorry if there's any mistakes in the writing, saru was having fever when typing this...honestly.)_

_Merry Christmas and happy new year for everyone!_

**thanx for reading**


	7. Chapter 7

**Another **** -17 dec'11**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 7**

"...We were riding our horses at ease, while the master offhandedly commented about the plants here and there..." the fifth soldier explained, grimacing when the ground medicine leaves smeared onto the wounds on his hand.

"And who is this master you're supposed to be in charge of?" Odin asked while chewing a juicy root between his lips and sometime spit the bluish liquid of the root to the wounds he was treating; the root looked almost carrot-like only with stem resembling two 'hands' with opened 'fingers'.

"Uhmmm... Commander, Sir, do you have to do it like this...?" the soldier's face was a little pale because of Odin's face looked somehow like he was enjoying the action.

"What? Your parents never treated your wounds like this?" Odin gave an offended stare.

"Well, no, Sir... that's not what I meant...!" the soldier cowered; though Odin's words were true enough.

"Hmph! You've never gone to war, young man?" Odin spit again after asking that.

"uhhh... No, Sir." the soldier answered half distractedly staring at the now off-colored wounded hand still in Odin's hands.

"Good; then this could be useful for your experience...!" Odin plucked the 'hand' of the root and shoved it to the soldier's mouth; "In war, you should be grateful if your comrade would chew your roots for your wounds...!"

"GWAAAAAACKK...-!" the fifth soldier yelled as soon as the juice from the root stem touched his tongue, and he reflexively spat the thing out his mouth. Mothers used to say 'if it's weird looking and never been served on the dining table, don't put it in your mouth'. (1)

Odin chuckled impishly, "Good-root doesn't actually taste that good, huh?"

The soldier coughed and stared Odin with disheartened eyes. Odin patted the young soldier's back quite heavily, "So, who _was_ it you're supposed to be in charge of again?"

The soldier turned significantly pale immediately.

* * *

><p>"...how's outside?"<p>

The demon glanced inside the cave and turned his eyes outside again; "It's getting less noisy."

The master chuckled, "I told you my amulets work...!"

The demon ignored the winning tone, and answered unexcitedly. "Right; the fact that you're being ambushed at all made them failures." He got a pouty 'che' in return. "The rain washed our scents off to some extent."

"Ahhh...you called that 'rain'?" the master asked flatly, hiding his amusement. That would be an understating comment that would've been offended the weather itself if only the weather could understand their language; it was a storm, alright, with hail and all too; eventhough it was lasted only for an hour or less; like a passerby dragon which forgotten how long its tail was and flew at its top speed while coughing ice and sneezing lightning continuously. The master sighed and shivered a little. "Aren't you cold?" he asked while rubbing his upper arms.

"I don't appreciate temperatures as you do." was a hazy reply. The master frowned in objection to the fact that he didn't really understand what the demon meant, but he knew they couldn't light any fire to warm themselves up because the beasts could smell the smoke and would find them. He sighed deeply.

"Where were you going...?"

The master blinked at the flat adequately half-sentenced question, and didn't know whether to find it amusing or to complain. "umm... I was going back to the Palace; I was just taking a look around some places for-..."

"Do you want to meet your guardians again?"

The master paused at the next question he got, the fact that the demon deliberately showing apathy towards his story disheartened him a bit. "You mean... whether we planned a rendezvous point if by chance we got separated in the way?"

"No. I'm sorry, I didn't think that the journey was that dangerous or-..." the wide eyes staring the demon looked hesitant for a moment and looked away to somewhere else.

"You're dangerous." the demon stated flatly.

The master laughed in acceptance, "...it seems it was me that was the problem, not the journey." he agreed.

The demon looked at him and eyed him oddly for some time, it made the master nervous a little.

"...you're still the problem." the demon pointed out; and the master realized he'd used past tense when admitting about himself, and gave an embarrassed flush on his face.

"Ummm... you're right. I'm sorry." he looked down as he felt the demon's stare was still directed at him, and fidgeted uncomfortably.

The master had his cloak hood down to his shoulders, exposing his fine face and lively large eyes. If he was someone from the Palace, then he should've met this human at least once; but he didn't even recognize the human's scent. Looking at his decent modest attire, he must not be from a flashy family like the dignitaries'... but being escorted by soldiers meant something. Judging from his experience with the Palace men, this master was probably some important dignitary's new paramour being transported from his home on the suburb to the Palace. Or just some distant relative of someone from the Palace... a long lost grandchild whose father or mother didn't accepted by the noble family, or some orphaned distant nephew...

"Uhmm..." the master cleared his throat while fidgeting, "...please stop staring at me like that... If you want to know, you could just ask outright; I'll answer any question you're possibly wondering about..."

The demon blinked but still looked unimpressed. "Not really..."

"Sorry." he added silently when turning away from the cave entrance; he knew it was rude to stare, but he forgot doing it sometimes, being too used by the fact that the humans around him tried to ignore him out of fright or prejudice.

The master laughed his nervousness away and stood up; "I'm Duo, by the way...!" he said good-naturedly and extended his right hand; he knew it was a very late introduction but he couldn't have any opening to bring that up before, noting that the demon was satisfied enough calling him only 'master' and the demon might be called only 'demon' like how others used to call him with.

The demon stared at the offered hand and at the grinning face in front of him. "Demon." he said, he wanted to point out that mostly humans wouldn't want to touch him because he's a demon, but he got a little lazy using the full sentence.

"Yes, I know you are. Surely you have a name to call you with, right?" the master's eyes shone a bit; a little too hopeful to the demon's preference.

The demon stared at the open face, somehow he felt bothered. Some youngsters sometime had high curiosity towards things their parents deemed dangerous, he had brushes of those experiences before.

". . . Heero." he answered almost sounded reluctant.

The master must have caught it too for he pulled his offered hand back and rubbed it to his chest with an "Oh..." and chuckled mischievously.

"Umm... I think it's best that I don't meet up with my guardians again... They're wounded and I'd still be chased by the beasts, and all that..." the master tried to hide his nervousness again, though the effort only showed it more. Sitting back on the big stone he'd used before, he added, "Umm... so, I think I should just head back to the Palace without them... I wonder if they're alright, though..."

The demon stared at the worried face; "My owner should have found them by now."

"So if that's your decision then I'll escort you to the Palace, Master." he added when those large eyes stared back at him hopefully.

"Uhh... no. Please just call me Duo...!" the master tried a nervous smile.

"Master Duo." the demon corrected himself obediently.

"No...please; the soldiers called me like that and it just makes me nervous..."

"You should get used to it." the demon said neutrally it made the master paused his fidgeting instantly and really stared at the demon.

They stared at each other for some time and the master eventually gave in with a smile. "Actually... my cousin lives in the Palace, and all of a sudden he wanted me to visit him. I'm not of a noble family or something, so when someone called me with titles I feel like being alienated..." he said softly. "And I _am_ sure that I want a demon to call me by my name...!" and added with enough certainty without sounding to be rude.

The demon stared at the gentle face for a long pause and decided it didn't worth an argument too.

"Duo." he called softly, almost like whispering it out, noticing a shudder ran up the human's body without the human himself realizing it when he said his name.

Duo brightened, and grinned. "That's more like it. Thank-you, Heero...!" but then he caught himself and looked nervous again. "Ummm... you don't mind, do you?"

Rather than minded his name called by some stranger, he was more minding that the boy used an 'ummm' or an 'uhhh' almost in front of his every speech. It grated on his patience; Odin teased him sometimes with that kind of annoying speech, knowing his endurance to such thing was thin. "...fine." he answered unexcitedly.

* * *

><p>"The General's COUSIN...?" Odin asked with incredulity.<p>

"You mean The-_annoying_ General's cousin he used to speak of so proudly since he was _young_...?" Odin asked again with fake surprise.

"Umm, Commander..." the soldier drooped his eyes with a twitching uneven smile. "Please don't make us the eyewitnesses when you want to call The General in good-natured humor and emphasize certain things about him that didn't need to be emphasized at all..." he complained in fear; his comrades pretended that they weren't there to be those so called eyewitnesses at all. Well, The General was still young compared to Odin, like about halve the man's age...

"I know what you're thinking about my age, it's written all over your face...!" Odin growled loud and grabbed the soldier's face from under his chin.

"...-'um suwryyy...!" the poor soldier said tearfully; his comrades looked elsewhere with sweat-drops.

Odin tsk-ed; "So what do you want now?" he asked to the circle around the fire, the soldiers gave him large uncertain eyes. "And you shouldn't be walking around when the beasts are not closing this way...!" Odin growled at the Lieutenant who had just gotten there from his (stubbornly) night patrol around the camping area.

"...!" Cail stopped when he got the glare from Odin, and frowned back when he realized he was being treated like a kid. "I believe I can defend myself and careful enough not to attract any beast this way, Sir...!" he complained openly. They made a frown-contest out of each other for awhile, the soldiers tried to ignore them.

"That's why the Lesard is guarding there...!" Odin pointed at the lizard lounging on its belly with flat neck sprawled on the ground which sometimes gave out a yearning-whining rumble.

"The lizard didn't look like it's in fit condition, Sir...!" Cail reasoned with an opposing stare.

"The beasts won't come near here for the fact that the lesard is here! And don't counter me when you have wounds all over you and I have none, boy!" Odin argued with finality.

The Lieutenant squeaked his objection and he knew he just had to shut it because his reasoning was already lost. He sat down by the fire with a dignified humph and ignored his surroundings altogether. The soldiers thought that perhaps the Commander should just say it outright that he was worried about the Lieutenant, but no one dared to voice it.

The horses neighed, and Odin stood up. "I'll check the horses." he threw off-handedly and left.

They had retrieved most of the fleeing horses; or should be said, they found their horses back except the master's. Odin hoped that horse somehow found its master by itself, knowing it's still a long way from the Palace. Lix had helped herded most of the horses back to them, at Odin's order, and now the lizard was looking quite sorrowful for not being able to find its rider. The man had been blackmailing the lizard too using the words 'what's your rider's last order?' to keep the lizard stayed with them, he felt a little sympathy for the lizard but knew that right now they needed it more than the demon did.

Odin humph-ed to himself; the demon should be needing him right now... but he couldn't leave the soldiers on their own too.

* * *

><p>Duo tilted his head up to see the sky from the shelter of the cave entrance that formed like a tunnel; he sighed and felt the demon's eyes opened and stared at his back from behind the shadow.<p>

"...it's morning..." he provided. The demon didn't react.

"Ummm... the beasts will trace us here soon enough, now that the rain smell is gone..." Duo added; he knew his amulets wouldn't do anything good carried in the open.

"What do you plan?" the demon asked softly.

Duo looked uncertain for a moment but knew that he didn't have much choice; ". . . run?"

But the demon had the choice to leave him behind; ...although Duo didn't really want to say like it was an option.

A flash of swirling heat could be seen in the demon's eyes, Duo was somewhat nervous seeing it, knowing the demon could read what his mind was thinking and he felt self-conscious for not wanting to be alone. So he averted his wide eyes and tried to hide his stare behind his cloak hood, although he still stole glances at the demon.

"They're waiting for us to come out." the demon said flatly. Duo nodded, knowing that too. "How far do you think you could run from them?"

Duo fidgeted; "Humm... I might have something under my sleeves to defend myself with...", though his tone was full of uncertainty to the demon's ears. "...if in case... we had to play more than hide-and-seek with them...?"

"Are you really capable?"

The demon asked without judgment, for that Duo seemed grateful; he nodded firmer but his wide eyes gave the demon a puppy's stare.

"It's a long way to run." the demon stood up from the corner.

"I know...!" Duo frowned with a serious pout.

The demon snorted softly; "...might as well take the way back..." he said to himself with acceptance and grabbed Duo's hand.

"Hah...?" Duo flustered; "Eh... wait!" he managed to squeak out as the demon pulled him out of the cave. He didn't expect the demon to be kind of touchy-feely (though NOT that much), but his mind didn't want to admit that perhaps the demon thought of him as a kind of luggage-in-humanoid-form either.

* * *

><p>A pair of golden round eyes on a giant sleek muzzle.<p>

A pair of frightened teary eyes with paling face.

Some drops of clear water from between the lining sharp teeth.

"What are you doing trying to back away?" Odin grumbled.

The wounded soldier, eventhough he seemed like he couldn't even crawl on four to run away, still looked like he tried to drag his body to get away from the drooling lizard and was scared enough that he couldn't voice his objection.

"Sir, are you sure...?" the fifth soldier asked in place of his comrade, feeling sorry for him for being the one most wounded and poisoned of them all.

Odin gave him a sour look, and he cowered and scooted to behind the man's line of sight.

"Sauria's drool has enough anti-poison in it, that's why the demons used them to go to wars; especially because lizards could create different anti-poisons once they tasted the poison itself as needed. Before you judge something based on prejudice or fear, you should know the up and down of it first." the Commander provided flatly. "Medicine plants are not pretty, they usually taste ugly too..." he added.

The eighth soldier looked like contemplating the lengthy reason and his aching wounds won.

"So if you still want to have a stomach to digest your food in, just let the Lesard gave a lick on that wound!" Odin urged impatiently.

The eighth soldier swallowed nervously but eventually nodded his consent albeit with full uncertainty.

Lix blinked and lowered his muzzle a little more above the lying soldier. The human cowered and trembled in fear a little as it sniffed the man from the face down to the chest.

"...you know it actually a little useless using a lizard to decide whether a prey's meat is poisonous or safe enough to be eaten by humans, since they're basically had whatever anti-poison for every poison they consume..." Odin commented half-caringly; ignoring the nervous soldiers feeling sorry for their bed-ridden comrade. "Hmh!" Odin nodded once with certainty, as if only thinking to himself loudly; "Definitely effective drool! Especially when they're hungry...!"

The lying soldier suddenly jerked in panic and his comrades paled at Odin with accusing stares.

Lix pulled its head up again as the wounded human thrashed and trying to slither away again. It snapped its long neck at Odin with an objecting quack with a deep lizard-frown.

"Just puke on that man already, Lesard!" Odin protested with irritation.

"Commander...!" Cail's even voice broke the wailing soldiers' protest; Odin ignored the panicking soldiers and turned to the Lieutenant rounding his way from behind him to his side. Cail knew better than to approach Odin from behind.

Odin stared at the ever serious man and asked without voicing it.

Cail didn't answer; instead he pulled the rein he had in his right hand closer to Odin to show the horse.

Odin's left brow arched in uncaring incomprehension.

"This was the master's horse, Sir." Cail answered flatly. "She came back to where we were attacked yesterday; perhaps thinking that she'd find the master there...!"

The hushing soldiers stared at the two men with the master's horse and ignoring the eighth soldier flailing his arms while the lizard (true to the order it got) was barfing enough saliva on his lying body to fill five buckets... or more.

Odin didn't react for some long seconds; the other soldiers were fidgeting in different levels of anxiety and looked at each other.

"So?" Odin tested.

"I'll try to catch up with the master, while you all go back to the Palace-..."

"You order me around now, Lieutenant?" Odin asked with a grimace; Cail shut his mouth instantly.

"...always the hasty kid, aren't you?" Odin commented and rounded the man to see the horse's condition; there were small scrapes on its left thigh and a bleeding cut on its neck, but all in all they were nothing alarming.

"How's your rider when you two parted; safe enough?" Odin asked the horse while patting its strong neck; the horse snorted and jerked its head up several times, the opposite of nodding.

"Oh, you're worrying about that, too?" Odin smirked; the horse kicked the dirt a couple times and shook its head.

"Something's bothering her, and I'm not talking about the beasts." Odin summed up and stared at the soldiers' eyes in turn. "Somebody's going to elaborate now why that boy needed this many men to escort him sight-seeing or should I make you cough it out by force?"

The other soldiers shrunk on their feet while in the background the eighth soldier whined tearfully in fright as the lizard started to barf out something more solid than just saliva on him, "...Commandeeeerr...!", but his comrades were too busy to mind him at the moment.

Cail pulled his chin up a little and Odin's eyes instantly landed on him. "Lieutenant?" Odin started, "We know your men wouldn't say anything unless you give them permission to..."

"And I'd like a satisfactory answer to be delivered to my demon later about why he had to be hand-in-hand with a human-stranger out there playing hide-and-seek with the beasts and going to the Palace on foot while his ride was left here guarding some soldiers he shouldn't be concerned of in the first place?" Odin showed enough teeth at the end of his speech, showing them he really meant it that he'd prefer to be with his demon than being with them; so if he could endure this as part of his duty, than they too should do their part.

The Lieutenant pulled the ends of his lips downward in an almost pout, but frowned seriously; he hadn't realized it that he was baiting Odin's sadistic side that way. "I'm sorry, Commander. But that's why I tried to tell you that I should go and find the master and transfer him safely to the Palace back without burdening you and your man."

"That's not satisfactory enough of an answer, Lieutenant...!" Odin used an irritating cocky tone now.

Cail's pout and serious frown were becoming more visible, and he glanced at his men and decided that they had their brush with deaths too so they had the right to know the reason for it. He sighed and lowered his guard.

"...the General thought that... the master might be in danger in his residence in the countryside and had him transferred to the Palace for better protection, Sir." Cail said in small enough voice for them to hear.

"Protection from what?" Odin urged.

"Assassination."

The soldiers widened their eyes at that.

"Assassination?" Odin repeated flatly; "...and the beasts?" one of his folded hands on his chest pointed generally to the open land.

The Lieutenant cleared his throat once. "The General warned us- ...me, about something like the beasts too before he had me to escort the master out of the Palace, but I didn't think he was serious since we never heard of anyone who'd use beasts to assassinate someone..." he trailed off, already blaming himself for that flaw now that he put it into words. He swallowed hard.

Odin silenced staring at the young man now frowning at the ground.

"Humph!" Odin turned around in a rigid pose; "So that's why we had those black-eyes tailing us since half way to here...!" That's probably part of what had made his demon restless yesterday.

"...black-eyes?" Cail looked up. All the eyes that were not busied with a puking sauria turned to the direction Odin pointed with a finger without he himself looking at it. The strange black-bird cocked its head to the sides from between the shelter of the green leaves as the humans' eyes stared back at it.

"What? You didn't realize something spied on you the whole time?" Odin growled noticing that black-bird was the one tailing him and his demon from before; so anything spying on the master wasn't there, it's more likely still tailing that boy, then...-and his demon too.

"Bu...but it's only a bird, Commander, Sir..." a soldier tried to reason; and squeaked when Odin grabbed his neck from behind and pulled him to his side.

"Look here...!" Odin whispered silkily, and the soldier squirmed at the closeness; "...black-eyes could see even through the darkest night; yellow-eyes could see through the shields of fire; and white-eyes could see through even the thickest fog. That's what you should be able to recognize of the familiar-beasts people used to substitute their senses with...!"

"-...and red-eyes?" a somewhat distracted voice of another soldier asked, "What about red-eyes?"

Odin frowned and slowly let the soldier go; he turned around calmly with a pissed off glare and a hand already pulled his sword from its scabbard a little.

Lix was growling low at the trees behind them, tail high in the air in an intimidating pose.

The men who were fit enough to fight immediately pulled out their weapons mimicking their Commander.

"Red-eyes are hungry vultures...!" Cail commented as he pulled his twin swords out too.

Up on the trees were large birds, easily the size of an adult human, and having three long lizard-tails each, staring intently at them on the ground; the birds' frowning-like looks made it even imposing to the humans. The soldiers gawped at the number of those birds in the sky too; it was like the scene of scavengers circling around rotten cadaver in the desert.

"So they failed with the ground beasts; now the sky-army closing in...!" Odin leered with manic excitement that made the soldiers even more nervous.

* * *

><p>"So, ummm... Whipping-vultures have three whip-like tails each, but Scorpion-eagles have venomous stings that are more of a threat, right...? So if you ask me, I'd rather have a flock of Whipping-vultures above me instead of Scorpion-eagles, I think... Umm, but... on second thought, I think I rather not have any of those chasing me, you know-...?"<p>

The demon tried to not sigh out loud, but then again...

"Get down." he grabbed Duo and pulled him behind the thicket, a hand on his mouth rather too tight muffling his voice. Duo widened his eyes and tried to pry the hand away, he bit his tongue a little and eventhough it's not bleeding yet but it still hurt.

"Shh. Those are not birds." the demon's whisper were rather apathetic that Duo failed to feel the emergency, he flailed his hands and when the demon grabbed his wrists to stop him he started to object verbally through his muffled lips, shaking his head intensely.

The demon caught himself and pulled down his encircling hand that was covering Duo's mouth; "Sorry." he muttered flatly, staring at how flustered Duo's face was.

"I bit my th-...!" Duo reflexively argued but the next happening made him widened his eyes in disbelief and he flustered more that he felt like his heart instantly stop beating. The demon was embracing him! His mind gravely screamed in his head; feeling the demon's hand encircled his upper body and pushed his head to his own shoulder, although it seemed to be an effort to muffle his mouth in a less violent way, while his wrists were still in the demon's other grip, flatten on their chests between their bodies. Duo was aware of their bent legs tangled as their fronts fit each other like a matching pair of puzzle pieces. The demon's scent filled his nostrils; there was a wisp of unearthly softness teasing his loose lock of hair just beside his ear, with shock he realized that it was the demon's wing... albeit the demon didn't seem to feel it. His heart decided to explode in his chest with that realization, beating painfully as something inside his core stirred.

Behind him, swimming in the light calm air, were Shadow-fishes with their transparent flickering bodies, coursing through the trees and stones that were in their ways. Their whiskers and thin tails swayed gracefully in their fluid slow motions. They moved without sound, so Duo couldn't -or too busy by the time- to realize them passing by.

The demon frowned. Shadow-fishes were not supposed to be inhabiting such place; they're much too far, far away from their hunting grounds; there was no way that they encountered those creatures by chance.

Duo was about to lose his right-mind, he knew he could do something irrational any moment now, so with his last rational thought he pushed the demon's body with his hands; blowing his held breath and wheezed in some rationality into his brain along with much needed air. He was about to tell off the demon for his sudden action, but a flicker of rainbow-shining fin behind the demon's body made him gaped in incredulity. A wispy swaying whisker passed through the leaves. A large thin head with grotesque-looking line of teeth, and a round dead-looking eye passed by close enough that he could see the reflection of his face in that black glazed eye. He knew he saw death's eye by then. Shadow-fishes devoured souls of living beings. He only had seen them in pictures, and knew them only by stories; because they were only part of those myth-and-legend tales and not of the real world, even if he'd wanted to see them when he was still a curious tale-induce-minded kid.

_But why now? Why there...?_ His brain stopped functioning.

Crackled noises of dried branches and tumbling dead trees heard all around them. Duo saw with his own eyes how the tree behind the demon shriveled and dried and turned ashen, its leaves wilted and soon dispersed into the air, while the bough cracked and fell in blackened pieces. It was instantaneous death to every living thing of which soul devoured by the creatures. His was of no exception. Knowing that, he couldn't contain his fear and trembled in the demon's arms; he didn't realize when, but he was clawing at the demon's shoulders, while the demon had flattened their bodies together again in a tight embrace.

. . . _so close! _His every cell on his body screamed.

Not the demon, but the fishes. His instinct banged itself onto the wall of his rational mind trying to break free answering the need to defend himself.

"Relax. It's alright." the demon whispered ever so softly.

And Duo stilled.

* * *

><p><em>saru's note:<em>

1. uhmmmm... suddenly, right after typing this sentence and re-read it; saru had a flash of 'picture' from the usual Y-manga and laughed it out loud (having fujyoushi-mind in mode:ON). REALLY, saru didn't think of it like _that_ when typing it down ...so, sorry if it's bothering anyone (still laughing fujyoushi-ishly) ...

_Somehow, today (jan 10th) saru agreed to take more work while some other works are in pause; but the money is good... so what else you'd argue with, right? (mom's hamsters are missing one by one from their boxes, she's crying over the loss now; and this part of the note has got nothing to do with the fic nor work but saru typed it anyway) Going to go to the publisher's office tomorrow for the new job... err, work... umm, project... whatever (already stressed by the not yet-happening but happy thinking about the payment) -slap-_

_Yesterday, the 2nd and 3rd books of the novel series that we illustrated were given to us in english (the original script instead of the translated script like the 1st) and we're amazed at how much the ambience of the novel was lost in the translation (suddenly felt that the illustrations we made for the 1st book were too childish for it...OMG! But on second thought, why bother when the editor said they're good, right? So, this's just self-thinking but between the positive-pan and the negative-pan inside saru's head, the scale-pole in the middle was called 'money' instead of 'logics' or 'rationality'... gyaaa, sucks to be poor!)_

_oh, and the last part of the fic there was a very irritating cut of a cliffhanger (Lol)... right, know that too; just bash saru in the review if you want to, but saru's going to read some Y-manga to clear mind before facing the new editor tomorrow. hahahaha... (Y-manga instead of praying, isn't the world coming to an end or what?)_

**Thanx for reading**


	8. Chapter 8

**Another **** -18 Jan'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 8**

The fire filled the silent air of the night with sounds of hissing and crackling, while the small river made the back-sound of running water endlessly. They were far enough from the stream but the silence made it audible enough for his human hearing.

Even the night insects didn't make a sound, much less of rampaging beasts.

Duo sighed, his dinner of river-fish-on-stake started to get burnt on the fire; he pulled the stick from the ground and inspected the fish.

"...you sure you're not hungry?" he asked for the -nth time, feeling the awkwardness started to oppress him more than he wanted to admit. The demon only glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and then fled somewhere only-demons-knew-where again.

He'd stayed silent after they got out of that village-road.

. . . the _sole_ village road.

He'd recognized the ancient-letters carved on the statues planted at the sides of the road too. Definitely some sort of spells.

. . .-no?

Or was it some sort of prayers?

He didn't get to inspect them closely so he couldn't decide what to suspect.

Duo sighed and started munching on his fish, picking on the loaf bread he had in his bag for his journey, it's already hardened with an almost musty smell, and quite battered by all the tumbling and rolling and running he did since yesterday, but his stomach won the debate over matters. All the while he openly eyeing the demon who lost his mind in the dancing fire, knowing he'd be too occupied to notice him staring. He couldn't help but replayed today's happenings in his own mind, as frown-earning as they were...

"_It's alright. The trees are here for us."_

That's what the demon whispered into his ear when the shadow-fishes passed through. He didn't understand what it meant until the death-convoy left the scene, leaving them crushing each other's body into one petrified bundle ...or, it was him alone who was petrified; remembering how calm the demon was when he embraced his body, covering Duo's back with arms at his upper back to his head and around his waist; as if knowing that he had felt most vulnerable exposing his back without protection at all.

Duo paused his chewing and swallowed. Was he trembling _that_ much at the time...? He sniffled his inferior-feelings in and took small gulps from his water pouch. Remembering what the scenery around them had looked like after the fishes disappeared made his trembling worth it, though; with the moldering remnants of trees made a wide-long blackened line splitting the forest to the edge of the cliff... even the rocks were crumbling to piles of stale dirt; leaving a colored blotch which was them squatting on a small circle of ground, like a spot on the painting of some artist that missed the black colored brush of paint because the canvas had a small hole on it. He had never seen anything like it and prayed he wouldn't have to see that again, to experience it again.

The blackness sticking to his shoes and the ends of his cloak were a sickly reminder of that feeling of helplessness. He didn't washed them by the river when they came across it that evening... couldn't; he had to not forget what death's gentle stroke felt like, so his soul would remember what it's like anticipating death's wrath. He closed his eyes and clutched at his chest, shuddering slightly when his core rippled with the tingling sense of expectant. It felt like being _really_ alive...

A diverting thought popped out in his mind, before he got himself too excited; since the demon was cool and collected through the whole ordeal, was it normal occurrence in his land? He admitted the fishes were kind of beautiful and somehow elegant to see... if only they weren't as deadly.

. . . was it what had made the demon seemed so distant now? Was he somehow feeling homesick?

Duo opened his mouth impulsively, but his mind couldn't put his curiosity into words, so he clamped it back with a pout; frowning with remorse. Perhaps he shouldn't stick his nose to other's business too much. Like in the village, the demon had motioned Duo to wait for him at a respective distance while he talked with a villager he visited.

Duo cocked his head to the side, as if by doing so he could inspect the demon's face for whatever was occupying the demon's mind to made sense for him. Back then in the village, it seemed the demon gave something to the villager, a young man who smiled a lot and bowed as much. The demon had said something to the man, something shocking, and eventually made him crying... but the young man smiled in relief in the end; albeit sadly. For some reason it had made Duo felt left out; it felt bizarre watching the demon being hugged affectionately by a mere peasant in some small village far away from the Palace. Shouldn't villagers be more cautious about demons and beasts more than town-folks...?

"Heero..." this time the word escaped Duo's mouth without him realizing it and before he decided to swallow it back; he looked caught for having said it aloud, but was glad when the demon turned his face to him slowly, although the demon's eyes were glazed and Duo knew that the demon's mind was only halve registering him. ". . . are you sad?"

The whisper was too soft and uncertain even for his own ears, a part of Duo's mind wanted to shake his brain to certainty but the most part of it was focusing on the demon's face in front of him, separated by the small fire dancing lights onto the pale white skin, the ends of the fuzz of his white fur-hat glistened as if catching lights and shimmering gently, cupping his face and hiding his wings which Duo had been so conscious about since the brush with the shadow-fishes.

"Rest."

Duo blinked at the demon's soft word, noting that the demon had reverted back to his own mind-loop as he stared at the fire again. Duo sighed after waiting him to make another reaction, but eventually his exhaustion won now that his stomach was full; patting his makeshift bed of a spare cloak from his bag to be more comfortable, like a cat clawing at its bed before balling on it, he lied down on his side muttering a low good-night; although his frown showed that the deed didn't work magic as to make his bed felt the slightest bit comfortable.

He snorted to the night air; the crackles of the fire answered his complaints.

* * *

><p>"RUN LIKE HELL ITSELF IS CHASING YOOOU!"<p>

Odin shouted to the other soldiers on their horses, taking the role as the back line as he rode behind all the men, sometimes pausing and swishing his sword into the air as some vultures closing their backs. He and the men had more additional wounds now, bleeding fresh blood all over their rides and the dirt road; the eight soldier had seemingly fainted on his horse as his comrade helped him steered the horse rein at his left and another on his right steadying him so as to not falling from the horse's back. It would be safer if one of them got the fainted man riding a horse together, but that would slow down the horse carrying two charges...

Lieutenant Cail took fast glances passed his shoulders; Odin smirked at his back knowing the man must be wishing so much that he had a bow and some arrows right now. A loud shriek and a sharp sting cut the air, Odin was thrown to his right with a grunt, but still managed to keep his balance on his steed. He smirked wider at Cail when the man glanced at him with a hard face; _make it a crossbow and an endless supply of arrows_, he corrected while licking the blood trailing down from a new cut on his cheek.

"Commander!" the Lieutenant called out, "The Sauria is fell behind...!"

"Are you worried, Lieutenant?" Odin chuckled, almost leering when he knew the man caught his implying that they had become too dependent to that lizard in the past hour or so; Cail gave that frowning-pout again, but didn't voice out his objection. "The Lesard is keeping them behind us. So, just concentrate with your escaping!" Odin shouted the last words to others as well.

Some flashes of light flared at some distance behind them, hidden by the trees that were overshadowing the curved dirt road. Cail was about to stop his horse when he saw those lights, realizing the shrieks of the vultures behind them were a few too many, even if it was a Sauria fighting those flying-beasts.

"Go!" Odin shouted his command behind the man, but it's just their natures that the man would feel like he wanted to rebel to the Commander's order; so he pulled his horse to stop. Odin tsk-ed and pulled his steed to stop as well, a little behind the man, as if he was obliged to do so, still defending the back line.

Some more flashes of lights and some explosive flares with muted seconds of intervals, the horses were scared enough that the two men had to steady them pulling at their reins, making small circles on the grounds in agitation. Cail held one of his twin swords in his left hand; he's ambidextrous but preferred more to face assailants coming from his left side.

A bright explosion of light blinded the men for a couple of seconds, followed by a loud boom that deafened the woods for a short moment, the horses jolted in panic when the beastly shrieks intensified and the crackling of tumbling trees heard.

"...Sir!" Cail fought to steady his horse, but he too felt the scale of vultures' attack now was heightened a few levels up. They probably joined forces to manage that scale of blast. His skin stung feeling the sharp air; even his bones felt the rippling power traveling the air.

Lix couldn't put his thundering-tail to a good use against the Whipping-vultures; the beasts had the same ability with the lizard and they're charging from a higher view as well. The men had witnessed it too before Odin decided they should flee.

The vultures' shrieks now heard in a more savage brawl, as they dove into the circle of burnt trees in the woods, just a straight line from the bend of the curved road to the men.

"COMMANDER...!" Cail called out in an emergency.

"Keep running!" Odin ordered the soldiers who waited for them at another curved slope of the bumpy road.

And just as if hearing Odin's order, with a sudden loud rustling sound, Lix came out of the dense woods running straight to them. The lizard's eyes were wide open, with almost frowning brows, jaws clamped tight with ends curved down, bits of the vultures wing and claw sticking and dangling from its mouth; it held its head high, like showing its dignity, but it held its normal tail high too, looking like a letter 'U' on legs, running from the battle with _dignity_ at top speed.

The Lieutenant was a little stunned with how the lizard could make expressions on its simple face...-muzzle, that he forgot to react, eventhough he saw the flock of vultures clouding the forest top behind the lizard.

"NOW! Go, go, go! RUN LIKE HELLLL!" Odin yelled as loud as he could, the men jerked to motion at his voice and ran in panic knowing their shield ran towards them with such speed pulling the lines of vultures behind it.

crackles...

lights...

mute.

explosions...

The chain repeated interflowed with the shouts of fear or surprise from the men and their horses, and the screeching vultures up there. The ground was left with holes along their way; some shattered rocks were falling off the cliff at their right side hindering their escape. Not long the men and the horses already worn out by the intense assault; the men panicked when some explosions got too close adding some more wounds and scrapes to their battered bodies, and their horses panicked when their riders got panicked.

"Steady yourselves! We're almost there!" Odin shouted; his ears picked up the lizard's long clucking sound of anticipation as it knew their goal was already on sight as well, but Lix obligatory kept itself behind the line of the humans at respective distance. Odin was pleased at the lizard's performance that in a moment's weakness he even thought to buy some sweets for the lizard when they reached town, though he wouldn't admit to that thought later.

There were shouts of surprise from the men on the front line as their horses suddenly halted and in fear tried to back away from progressing. The men urged the horses in haste, looking passed their shoulders at the two men followed by the lizard and a flock of rampaging vultures; as the emergency pressed the distance between them, eventually the fear of the rampaging vultures won and the horses ran forward again. Cail saw his men were too close with their line so he pulled the rein and steered his horse to face the oncoming beasts, Odin tsk-ed and followed his action beside him; Lix let out a long screeching-'_Kreeee-!_' that it's been holding since a few hundred meters away before and followed the soldiers running passed the two men looking dumbfounded at its action.

In another couple of seconds later, the first line of the vultures arrived at their standing ground; with a surprised hiss Cail pulled out his other sword and braced himself for a bloody assault; but to his shock, the vultures collided with an invisible wall just before him, and recoiled behind screeching in surprise.

At their right, now that they were facing the vultures, the sun was setting; casting yellow-orange flares in the sky with brushes of purple clouds hiding the fiery-circle of the sun before the forest tops swallowed its glory for that day...

* * *

><p>Duo woke up with a little jerk, feeling like somebody just threw his mind out of the slumber-land back into his body. His instinct told him that it was still midnight. He groggily searched around, finding the fire was already dead and the woods shadowing him from the gentle moonlight streaming down from between the leaves. Sitting up, he found the demon was nowhere to be found and a fear of being left behind woke him up entirely; when he stood though, his mind felt, more than saw, what seemed to be the rustles of the demon's wings feathers on the ground, behind the large fallen bough the demon used as seat when the day set to dusk.<p>

Approaching on four, Duo found the demon lied on the ground there, without so much of a sheet under him on the damp soil. Duo frowned, feeling something amiss; if the demon wanted to rest then he should have woken him up to take the watching shift. Wasn't the demon implied that when he told him to rest first?

Straightened up to his knees, Duo examined the demon's lying body; his frown got deeper. He stood up, looking down separated by the bough and a realization hit him like a slap on his face; the demon's position, pose, was as if he wasn't lying down purposely... more like he fell behind, like fainting.

Carefully stepping over the bough, Duo knelt beside the demon's side; he was almost on his sides with arms bent up, hands slack in front of his chest, eyes closed, and his breathing...-

Breathing?

Duo's eyes snapped wide and he loomed over the demon's body; half expecting that the demon would suddenly open his eyes in a snap and yelled at him for intruding his space. To his dismay he didn't hear the demon's breathing sounds, eventhough his face was just a whisper away from the demon's. The leaves rustled by the wind as if mocking his hearing, and the clouds were cleared from the sky giving him enough moonlight streaming down on them to see how pale the demon's face was; he never realized it before, due to the intense exertion of the day's events, but know he saw the demon's complexion was almost one of those dead bodies'...pale, whitish softness like a body that was drown in icy waters; as if when he touched the skin he'd feel the cold of that ice water.

". . . Heero?" Duo called in the most silent whisper he'd ever made; not sure whether he should call out louder or shook the demon.

His eyes searched wildly on the demon's torso and face and bent arms, expecting any slight movement indicating the demon wasn't dead. The night wind blew passed them and there it was again, the rustles of the wings feathers he felt in his mind; his eyes stared at the still face then, realizing the flap of the fur-hat was dangling to the back side of the demon's head, leaving his wings cupping the pale cheek bare... the moonlight made the striations of the feathers glittered, like twinkling small stars.

Duo sighed his worries out and took a deep breath; right hand tried to touch the pale soft cheek but his fingers shied away before the contact, fearing to feel that coldness his mind had been picturing from moments before. Then he reflexively turned his palm up, feeling the soft wings with the back of his fingers just ghostly...

"Don't. You'll regret it."

"-Waaahh!" Duo recoiled in surprise, his foot tripped on the bough and he toppled over on his back, hitting his head in the process.

"-ooooww... that _hurts_!" Duo moaned his complaint, rubbing his head with his right hand, didn't give a care that he was sprawling undignified-ly on the forest floor; all his senses felt, beside his pain on his back and head, was the brush of that unearthly softness tingling on the back of his right hand fingers.

"What's with you...?" Duo propped his body on elbows and complained with tearful tone, tears glistened in his eyes, caught by the thick eyelashes and the moonlight made it even more visible.

The demon snorted softly.

"You'll die if you touch a demon's wing." the demon's voice was barely a whisper, but Duo could hear it as if it was a normal conversation-voice.

"Riiight... so does everyone say." Duo answered skeptically, straightened his body.

"I'm not everyone, I'm a demon." the demon said in a flat whisper, but didn't move a muscle.

Duo paused for a moment; "...you... are you alright?" he scooted over and asked softly.

"I'm playing dead."

"What?" Duo asked in incredulity.

"Which is not working with you making me wording my thoughts aloud."

Duo paused again. Aloud? He called that _aloud_...? His mind objected to the accusation.

"Why are you playing dead, again?" he bent closer and whispered.

"There's a Maggart looming over us on the top of that cliff behind you."

Duo's eyes widened and he turned his head reflexively, "What's a Magg-"

"Don't stare." the demon's hand sought his head out and pulled it into his embrace, making Duo lied on his sides as well, his feet rested on the bough half-bent by the knees. "Maggart is a type of fiends; formed by the negative thoughts or feelings of a dead person's when meeting their demise."

"A..." Duo frowned, getting half used to the fact that the demon wasn't feeling physical restriction of holding him; "...dead person's feelings?" he asked flatly.

"If it's strong enough, and hungry enough, it could swallow lesser beasts and entities to form its tangible body."

"And that body is a Maggart?" Duo repeated, his jester-mind somehow picturing a giant maggot with a humanoid head twitching in the moonlight, which failed to be funny; ". . . hungry?" though he didn't like the way this conversation flowed.

"A Maggart will consume your mind before killing you, turning all rationality upside down. Once you see into its eyes and mark you, it won't forget you forever."

Duo blinked at the fact that the demon used two full sentences for that explanation. "Romantic..." he commented off-handedly.

"Unfortunately, it is so..." the demon's sadden tone lingered in Duo's mind for the rest of the night... because he couldn't sleep with his head cradled in the demon's embrace like that, his mind pointed out that he still didn't hear the demon's breathing. Not even once. He wanted to check the demon's heart beats, if his heart was beating at all, he tinkered for changing the angle of his head to flatten his ear to the demon's chest, but somehow his body wouldn't move... as if it was asleep while his mind beating itself with thoughts. He wondered if that what it felt like to be dead and becoming a lingering spirit.

. . . so, what a Maggart felt in its 'forever' like? Unfulfilled hunger for limitless of time...? Such a sad thing of a person's spirit could become. For some alien reason his heart felt for that Maggart he'd yet to see by his own eyes.

* * *

><p>Cail stared wide eyed at the oncoming onslaught of the vultures against that invisible wall, the large birds kept ramming their bodies onto that unseen line but kept being recoiled back, hitting their owns in the backward momentum. Their screeches turned into wrath, and the man's blood tingled with the fear at hearing their vengeful cries.<p>

The horses had calmed down sooner than their riders.

Odin looked pass his shoulder, easing his sword down beside his thigh, making eye contact with the lizard trying to catch its breath on some distance behind them; its tail already curved down at the end, the long neck hunched forward a little, chest heaving with deep breaths; eyes wide, with brows arched upwards, drools dripped from its slack jaws to the ground, already spitting the bits and other things from its mouth. The lizard looked relieved to him, and for some moment he could see traces of fear in the lizard's pose and face, he felt guilty to some extent for ever depending to that creature at all.

". . .-wha...?" Cail's choked voice made Odin turned his head to his front again.

Looking down and recognizing the slightly different color of the dirt road making a straight line marked with two almost-crumbling stone statues by the either sides of the road, he sighed his relief and thanking his Fates that they made it there just in time. That Fates had led him there before...

"Commander..." a young man's voice called politely from behind them, carrying a smile; "Fancy meeting you again in just a short time...!"

Cail turned his horse to that voice in his still dumbfounded state; Odin only turned his head to the young man.

The young peasant was smiling wide in earnest at the two men; their horses made a low snort in unison and bobbed their heads as if bowing repeatedly to him, calmed like an undisturbed air of the morning. The vultures let out high-pitched shrieks and backed away; they eventually flew further and dispersed, until they're gone from their sight. That happened only in minutes span.

The soldiers gaped on their horses at some distance further into the single village road, they were hunched down with exhaustion and relief, and almost making the same expressions with the one on the lizard's face before, minus the drools. Odin glanced at them, and back to the peasant; he still had his wooden basket strapped like a backpack to his shoulders; for once Odin glanced at the mountain-vegetables inside the basket now that it was still bright enough for him to see, recognizing the contents. He stared back at the smiling face of the peasant, and nodded.

"Seemed like you need some place to rest for tonight..." the young man started, "...and some _herbs_?" he implied with a more serious tone, tilting his head in a supposedly polite gesture.

Odin didn't like the fact that they couldn't get out of the village road without risking being attacked by some other flock of beasts, he didn't like the fact that the young man was the only villager left in that village, he didn't like the fact that his demon was somewhere in that vast wilderness and not even a bit close to his embrace, he hated the fact that his nose told him otherwise, he hated the fact that he had no other option than to take the young man's offer. By nightfall any other beasts would take them as food. But he had to ask something first...

"Did my demon come here before us?"

"Yes." the young man answered without hesitation, "You missed him for about..." he paused in thinking, "...roughly three hours?"

"Was he with someone? A boy around his height wearing perse cloak...?" Cail interjected hurriedly.

"Perse, sir...?" the peasant hunched forward in an almost bow.

"Dark bluish gray cloak, almost dusty purple if you'd say...!"

"Ooh...!" the peasant's face brightened, "That was a _boy_? I thought it was a girl, what's with two long braids down the shoulders like that...!" he chuckled to himself. Cail looked at Odin with uncertainty, but then he brushed it off as perhaps the master wanted for others to think that he was a girl to trick his pursuers.

"What's the hair like?" Cail tested.

"Brunette mane down almost to mid-thigh...?" At the young man vigorous nods and earnest smile and answer, the Lieutenant let himself to feel some relief.

"Did they look wounded to you?" Odin asked flatly, Cail glanced back at Odin with surprise but he realized grimly that it was inevitable for those two to get some pursuers catching up to them.

"Hmmm..." The two men wanted to urge the peasant to hurriedly cough up his answer but they refrained themselves, "They're not visibly bleeding, sir; buut..."

"But?" Odin and Cail asked together.

"Your demon..." the peasant pointed at Odin in front of his chest, not wanting to look rude; "He looked exhausted to me... he was more collected when he was with you the other day." he nodded a couple times to end his words.

Odin frowned at that piece of info; he wanted to ask him to which direction they had gone to but realized that the soldiers couldn't be left to themselves... definitely not in that shady village.

"Lead us." he said flatly.

The young man nodded deeply and said, "Please follow me..." and walked towards the other end of that road-side village where his house should be.

* * *

><p><strong><em>saru's note:<br>_hahaa... this is kind of late, but saru wanted to post it with the greeting too.**

**_Gong xi fat choi_, for everyone who's celebrating it! May this year be a good year too... **XD ****

_saru went home on Friday night, second-uncle wanted for the family to pray together too, so we prayed together on Saturday evening (not exactly on the new year).  
>saru ended up with the scrubbing work for two days since Monday, Mom wanted to repaint the wall so we had to scrub the old paint from the wall first. right hand and shoulder are still aching from all that scrubbing... heheheh<em>

_saru thought it would have been easier doing the work using some paint remover; but Mom asked the mighty question of : "Do you have the money for it?"_

_saru just grimaced, and Mom just said "Then, let's scrub...!"_

_the good thing about us is that we're both monkeys, so we tend to be immersed with the work once we started; it's like you feel the hunger to pluck more gray hair after you pluck one (Oni-tan is complaining about her gray hair and saru's hunger... gyaahahahahahhh) _:D_ her blood-type is O so she should be the one to get bald first, and saru is a B so saru should be right behind her (plucking her gray hair too...) -cackling evilly-_


	9. Chapter 9

**Another **** -1 Feb'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

chapter 9

"...-owwh! ...sorry..."

The fifth soldier flushed a little when he'd reflexively pulled his hand from the peasant's hand, eventhough the young man had warned him that the balm would sting a little; albeit the soldier would say that it was _not_ just a little. Then again, if that was a little sting, perhaps he should decline the medicine the peasant made for them when he said it'd sting _a lot_, even if his life depended on it. The young man chuckled as if knowing the soldier's thought, it made the young soldier flushed a little more and frowned at the fire on the hearth, just to occupy his mind from thinking about stinging medicines.

The peasant chuckled deeper; they looked almost the same age, perhaps only three years in difference at the most. "You should be proud if you succeed defending yourselves from monster-trees and whipping-vultures in one day...!" the peasant said conversationally, diverting the soldiers' minds from the pain even if it's just for polite's sakes.

The others took turns to cleanse their body and open wounds with the medicine water from the wooden basin near the fire, that was oddly enough was the only light-source in that room; helping each other when they couldn't reach tricky parts by themselves. The blissfully fainted eighth soldier had been the first to be treated and now rested in one of the inner beds, he got a hell of a portion of stinging medicine to be complained about when he woke up later, though. The rest were occupying the lounger and chairs around the hearth, waiting for their turn to get examined and treated.

"You only have four beds for patients." Odin commented on his surroundings in the small room; he'd believed that it was a healer's house judging by the interior of the second floor's furniture and the abundant amount of varied herbs and medicine in jars on the shelves, covering the walls; though it didn't mean that the peasant was not something else as well. He acted like he'd dropped his wariness but he didn't let his guard down; the peasant knew that too.

"This village didn't have that much of folks, sir..." the young man answered with a calm smile.

Odin frowned at the words, "Still no one came back?"

The young man chuckled again, looking like he was enjoying the bandaging and grounding-herbs work; "The soldiers had stopped their fighting around the area, sir... but doesn't mean the villagers would come back this soon."

"Are they coming back at all?"

Cail was inspecting the scene outside the small window and instantly froze, turning to the Commander, recognizing his serious tone even if the question wasn't said in that much of seriousness. The other soldiers turned at their Commander too, they still felt the after-effect of today's shock so their senses were recognizing the temperature of the air dropped with sudden pressure.

"I hope they would, Commander. Why are you asking that?" the young man smiled, his busied hands didn't stop.

"Hmph... I was just wondering about the flocks of beasts outside the village and the impact of this war to your small village..." Odin said with a closing tone.

The young man chuckled again, "Yes, yes. I got your point, sir... otherwise it'd be a waste of a strong barrier this village has, right...?"

Odin snorted.

"Strong as it is to keep beasts outside, the barrier couldn't keep the humans from entering...!"

The peasant's hands paused for a moment; his eyes shadowed, but soon after he continued with the bandage, all the while succeeded to keep his smile on his face. "Your point is..., Commander?"

"You said your sister went outside the village last week. Is she coming back here?"

"Oh... you have good memory, sir." the young man said good-naturedly, diverting the question.

Odin snorted with a satire smirk, "...'sure would remember the last things I heard before I got drugged by a stranger. It's as if those things are ingrained in my dream and coming back to my mind just by smelling the same drug in the air." he rested his back on the chair's back, noting the pain of his wounds there had lessened to dull throbs because the drug he inhaled; the other men were probably not complaining much about their pains because of it, without them realizing.

Cail got the message and gripped the hilt of one of his twin swords still hanging behind his waist.

"Your senses are good... thanks to your demon." the young man nodded once and stood up with the redden water in the small basin in his hands, walking to the sink at the far wall facing the stairs to the first floor, and came back with fresh water and gestured the next soldier to be ready for his turn.

"My demon?" Odin frowned again at the mention of the demon.

"You asked me about him coming here before you back then, because you smell his scent on me, right, Commander?"

Odin didn't say anything to that.

"Well... most humans wouldn't say that they could smell a demon's scent, moreover one that had already gone over three hours on someone who just touched him for some short seconds, sir..." he chuckled deeply as if finding it funny, "Ah... that's why most humans wouldn't be able to sense demons approaching on them in an ambush...!"

Odin still stayed silent at that; the Lieutenant looked uncertain at the exchange that he flicked his eyes on Odin and the peasant, hand still on the hilt of his sword.

"You must have been living with him for a long span of time...?" the conversational tone hid the accusation, or may be the man said it as a fact he knew.

"You notice?" Odin smirked again and follow the game; he was the one started it after all. "And I thought you said most humans wouldn't be able to smell a demon's scent?"

The young man chuckled, "No, sir, I can't smell that. But there are certain ways to smell things that your nose failed to sense."

"Ah, that's right. If you can't use your own nose, just use other's, right?" Odin smiled, "Like that night when you came tumbling down in front of our rides, you used the mountain-broughams' senses to find the demon's scent coming with me."

"I can't do something like that, Commander...!" the young man laughed, but still averting his eyes from meeting Odin's, using the wounds he was treating as his excuse.

"Really? But I thought you were a Shepherd; shouldn't you guys have that kind of ability to control beasts?"

At Odin's light tone Cail pulled his sword a little, the peasant heard that clear scraping sound of metal against metal too for he stopped what he was doing and glanced at the Lieutenant.

"What makes you think I be one of those guys, Commander?" the peasant asked calmly, continuing with his work.

Cail glanced at his Commander, waiting for the cue; but Odin was seemingly enjoying his question-game. "Back then, you said it was 'spiders' to call the mountain-broughams. Villagers and suburban people called them that to scare children and give them the idea of how big the creatures were. Only beast shepherds would see them as just the kind of animal they are, spiders."

The peasant stared at Odin after that, his hands were still applying some different smelling balm from the one given to the earlier soldier, he paused his hands when smiling at Odin. "You're right, I slipped that one out. I was hoping you wouldn't notice it, though..."

"So you drugged me?" Odin asked with drooping eyes, frowning with the accusation.

The man chuckled again, staring back at his hands and work; "Is that why you think I put some sleeping drug into your drink?"

The soldiers stayed silent but the ones behind the peasant now eyeing their weapons; Odin glanced at them and shook his head a little, cueing for them to keep resting.

"I said there are other ways for humans to smell something their normal senses couldn't catch, right? That works with the animals too, Commander. I drugged you so that my-eyes could follow you..."

Cail's sword was out of its scabbard in an instant, Odin glanced at him, but the peasant was ignoring him all the same. The Lieutenant looked annoyed that his Commander seemed calm and unexcited with the exchange, but he didn't jump to action himself without permission.

"Your 'eyes'... would those be the yellow-eyed ones, or the black-eyed ones...?" Odin tested.

The peasant laughed. "You haven't seen my-eyes in the eyes, Commander."

"Can I see them in the eyes now...?" Odin smiled, "Besides the ones on the walls..."

Cail's brows shot up at that and he reflexively searched the walls; the house was barely stylized, and he didn't even see any taxidermy on the wall, let alone a living animal. The only animal-like things were... he frowned, that was the reason why he let his men came into the room in the first place, that there were no animals in that house except for some crocheted items or embroideries of mostly butterflies and flowers.

"You noticed them, Commander?" the peasant smiled amusedly.

"Just some butterflies...-"

"That's because the others are still out... You want to see?" the peasant's tone turned somewhat childish. Before Odin could let his answer out, the young man waved a dry pressed-leaf at him from nowhere and from Odin's shadow a small black dragonfly flew out and landed on the young man's knuckle soundlessly. The small insect was totally black, not iridescent like usual dragonflies; in fact it was so black that Odin's eyes couldn't recognize the shape of its eyes and body volume. It's as if the thing was a...

At that instant the black dragonfly liquefied like black ink and trickled onto the dry leaf and changed into an adequately-drawn painting of dragonfly.

The room fell silent.

"I don't deal with real animals, Commander. So you should be at ease too, Lieutenant. I didn't send those beasts to ambush you nor your young master." the peasant glanced at Cail with a smile, and flipped the dry leaf to vanish somewhere.

Odin's frown got deeper and he regained his alertness in a short time; ". . . you're a wizard!" he accused flatly.

The peasant snorted and for once he frowned out his objection, "...' am not! Please stop calling us that..." he let his hands fell to his sides, and turned to Odin with an alien look, eyeing the man's face openly as if searching for something.

Odin blinked at the scrutiny but he pulled his wariness inside, not wanting the young man to see him so clearly like an open book; though perhaps it's already too late.

The peasant looked down on his own laps, still frowning... fuming; "...our ancestors were called 'druids' once... then in the next age they were called something else. I don't know why you humans liked calling others with names, but, really...-" he stopped suddenly, with mouth still opened in an uneven grimace showing contempt, and in the next second he smiled as if hearing those words coming out from someone else's mouth and chuckled to himself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't let that out on you..." and chuckled again, longer and merrier.

Odin silenced for some seconds, noticing the young man had continued with his treating-wounds work; ". . . so that's why that dagger is behind your waist; my demon came here to return it to you."

"Yes, he said he should return it before some more trees take the burnt for them..." the peasant kept his smile.

"Trees?" this time Cail quipped; he still had his sword out eventhough at ease, or just because he's exhausted.

"Mm-hm. He had the dagger with him, that's why the trees sacrificed themselves against their pursuers. He minded about sacrificing others more than he let you to see, you should be worrying more about his heart, not his body... Demons are operating on their feelings more than food, especially the dead ones-"

"What?" Odin cut the long speech hearing the last part, he didn't care why the peasant suddenly chattered about demons but he cared about his demon.

"...the dead ones..." the young man turned to Odin again, easing his smile a little from his face; "...you mean you didn't realize you're living with a dead-demon for years?"

Odin stood abruptly, the soldiers gasped and stared at Odin's face with wide eyes; they knew it was a BIG no-no to say something bad about that demon in front of him, especially _at_ him.

The peasant looked up at Odin's eyes, the smile was annoyingly still on his face; "...you should have at least wondered why he doesn't eat?" he paused for a few seconds to let those words sink in.

"...and when you hold him in your bed at night you couldn't hear his heart beat nor his breathing...?" he continued slowly.

"-...uhhh...!" the soldiers behind the peasant were the ones frightened with the way this weird conversation flowed, they tried to pull the young man back to the right rational way of fleeing a certain Commander's wrath, but they didn't know what to do that with that certain Commander's eyes widened with anger at the peasant... who didn't faze at all in front of that hazard.

"...I know he's depending on your life-force for years to survive, and that you're extremely worried about his well-being for not getting his ransom for two nights now..."

At those words Odin's anger froze a little.

"You know..." the peasant looked back to his work, "...others too should be able to see that as easily as I did, even without proxy-'eyes' to spy on you... so perhaps you should reconsider the object of this ambush-"

"Commander!" Cail called out when Odin turned his body in haste, definitely going towards the staircase to look for his demon outside in the wilderness, and the Lieutenant intended to follow him as he put his sword back into his scabbard; but Odin stopped abruptly when a small liquid-ladybug stared him down in front of his face. Odin glanced at the peasant and knew that the young man had painted the insect using water in that instant, he narrowed his eyes at the calm face.

"-...which would be _you_, Commander." the peasant ended his sentence with a meaningful stare.

The other turned a surprised look at the peasant's words.

"Me...?" Odin whispered that in a dangerous purr, the manic light in his eyes looked even more frightening with the dancing light of the fire. But he never held much value about his existence, not in a political view.

"Yes, you should know your own worth, too... or at least care about it a bit." the peasant snorted a sigh; "You know, when I knew that the Palace sent a single Commander to stop this war, I was a little... you could say, crestfallen... that the governments thought that a single man could patch up this already out-of-proportion mess of a silly family-quarrel back. I was testing you when I showed up in front of you that night..." he nodded a couple times, and in a short moment the others could see the young enthusiastic peasant from that evening on the village road.

"When I saw your demon behind you, I thought... oh, perhaps they're depending on him to threaten those stupid Lords back to their right minds...!" he smiled, "But you did more than what I had expected for the outcome, sir." and the peasant bowed slowly in earnest, admitting his lost.

Odin stared, the manic in his eyes froze into cold penetrating gaze ". . . is that why you let us entered your barrier this evening?"

The peasant chuckled; "No. I could care less about some soldiers die while doing their duties." the mischievous smile showed them that he was serious about that. "I let you inside because I saw a little child defending your hides desperately, eventhough the child was frightened and losing the parent...!"

"You're all adults, so you should try not to depend to a five-year-old child too much, too..." he added, looking a little smug at the uncomprehending stares he got.

'u-kraaayeaa...!' that was the most bizarre sound Lix made that Odin had ever heard in the years he spent with his demon, coming from outside the open window.

"Alright, eiiight!" the peasant called out with a happy flush on his cheeks; "That child is about eight-year-old if it were a human, you know...!" he added pointing out to the window in general. "A Sauria might as well be a baby no matter how many years it had lived, you should treat them more carefully..."

"And about you, Commander..." the peasant stood up, "You should realize that if you fall victim while you're travelling alone with your demon then the people who would want to break the truce between this Kingdom and the demon's Kingdom would have the reason to start _that_ war again...?"

The peasant chuckled enjoying the various faces he got after his elaboration; "I'm may be only a peasant from a small village which could fall prey to a little skirmish of some delirious soldiers in only a half hour span, but I can see a lot of things even dead people could no longer see... and I don't like what I'd see if the war with the demons break again."

"That's why you haven't retaliated for your sister's death?" Odin asked flatly, "...or should I say 'your fiancé'...?"

This time it was the peasant's face turned still, a light of manic anguish in his eyes.

"You know, this house had that feel of a woman in it, not of a man; not you. You came too late, and could only witness what happened to the villagers and your 'sister' without being able to save either of them; it must have been hell for you...!" Odin leered.

The peasant's face turned like a mask, all color drained from it, all signs that indicated that it was alive. "You have acute grasp of things, including humans' dark-side. Must be great to be _old_...!"

Odin didn't take the bait and stared down the young man coldly, the fire in the hearth mocked the cold air of that room crackling silently.

The young man sighed deeply after that, covering his face with a hand, looking down at the wooden floor, shoulders sagged; he stayed unmoving for a long moment, and the soldiers stilled uncomfortably, not knowing what to say or do.

". . . . . . my sister..." the young man said silently at last, breaking the silence with a whisper; "...she's my sister. It's one-sided, we're just siblings to her... even now..." he chuckled bitterly at the end.

Pulling his hand from his face, he looked at Odin's face again, his calm smile was back on his face; or it was more like a submissive smile, now that Odin could see his motive clearly. "...and yes, I did intend to bask in the sight of Darque and Roude being leveled to the ground if you failed your task or failing my end-goal, and perhaps some Palace dignitaries' estates as well-... but your demon..."

He reached for the druid-weapon stuck behind his waist, covered by his outer-shirt and examined its glory in his careful hands; "He thanked me when he gave this back, although I still don't know what he thanked me for... for the trees perhaps, my sister was a descendant of the Druids of Plants, so he might have thought that this thing protected him with trees... He said if something happens to him and causes the war with the demon's Kingdom to break again..."

The peasant stared Odin levelly; "He asked me to protect you."

Odin's brows twitched at that admission.

"Can you belief that?" the young man's face contorted with incredulity, "Me? Protecting a soldier...? The Palace's _soldier_? If I was to protect you then it should be _before_ the war with the demons break again, not _after_ that; what does it good if _my Kingdom_ already suffered in the war against them-...!" he stopped abruptly on his outburst, sighing his leftover breath of excitement out; took a few hard breaths looking down.

"...Crazy-demon turning my reasons and excuses upside down...!" he complained with a hard tone but sounded submissive.

Odin was, somehow finding it as amusement that his demon could invert one's deep grudge into rectitude without even trying, _trying_ to stifle his chuckles; or trying to sound like he tried to stifle them from coming out... but he chuckled, anyway; sounding worse even, since it sounded like an annoying clogged drain. The peasant stared sharply at him with an offended expression, and true to his annoying nature, Odin laughed out loud with smug accusing eyes.

* * *

><p>Odin opened his eyes in an instant, he was sleeping on his chair near the hearth the whole night; the peasant said he wouldn't do anything harmful to them, the drug in the air was to lessen their pains, and even if it's too much for him to ask them to trust him, the young man had said earnestly that he needed their help about the village, so they could rest the night there with ease.<p>

He had asked earnestly with a deep bow.

Odin frowned.

The peasant looked like he was begging, to others may be, but to him it almost looked like an apology; and judging from what happened ever since their first meeting, that young man had the tendency to do anything that he liked without so much of fear for the consequence later. Almost like a childish ignorance.

Odin stood up, stretched his body with a low grunt; halted when he realized his wounds were not as throbbing as they should. He examined his left hand where long gashes from yesterday hunt stared at him back with accusation, those wounds were only smeared with some balm the peasant made for him and lightly bandaged; and that young man had seemingly made different recipe for each person; and Odin had to admit that he never seen his wounds recuperate to that state in only a night.

"...Druids of Plants, hu?" he glanced at the jars covering the walls, and to his soldiers who were still sleeping; some of them who didn't get too many wounds weren't there, Cail already up with his swords intact; that boy needed to loosen up a little, he thought. He walked over to the eighth soldier's bed, checking his condition, noting the man had some color back to his face and his sleep seemed to be restful; Odin nodded to himself and allowed himself to think about his demon.

He sighed.

Heero should be able to decide what to do on his own.

Lix was purring to the morning air outside the window, he thought he should check the lizard as well and looked down that window, surprised when he saw the Lieutenant with it, seemingly bringing Lix some grass to lie down.

"What are you doing?"

Cail jumped at Odin's voice, he looked up noticing the amused smirk on his face, and his tone before was light too. "Good morning, sir." He nodded. "Oh, this... That man said this grass is Sauria's natural medicine, for healing ache and broken skin, and such."

Lix waited patiently at the side, after the grass-bed was finished it jumped onto it, rolling over happily like a cat finding catnip. Odin arched his brows at the sight, Cail looked satisfied and smiled a little then entered the house, and Odin followed him to the first floor.

"Good morning, Commander; I hope you're feeling better?" the peasant smiled and bowing repeatedly with his every word. He was preparing something to eat on the dining table; three of the soldiers were already sitting there beside Cail, muttering their greetings as he arrived.

Odin stared at the peasant; he was back to being that over-polite enthusiastic young man he first met, the one whom they met on the village barrier gate. More than the other 'faces' that young man had showed him last night, he didn't like facing this one the most, because this one bowed too much and his polite coyness seemed earnest to him that Odin couldn't see his motives openly.

"Please sit, sir; would you like morning brew like the others?" the young man pulled Odin a chair.

Odin sat and eyed the earthen glass in front of the others. "Is it good?" he asked loud enough to the peasant, while examining the glass lid in front the man next to him. At all contorted faces trying not to shake their heads that visible, Odin narrowed his eyes with accusation at the glass just put in front of him. "This is drug."

"Yes, it's a brew. Did I say it'd be beverage?" the young man chuckled putting an empty bowl too.

Odin sniffed at the smell of the steam puffing up from the glass, and tried a gulp. His spectators stared at him waiting for his reaction. Odin pulled the glass lid from his mouth and thought; "...this is good, I missed this drug."

"You do?" the peasant smiled happily at the cauldron he was stirring.

"My great grandfather used to make me something like this when I was a kid." Odin said conversationally; "So, what's your name?"

"Do you have separate names, or should I just call you 'siblings'?" Odin asked again.

A clunk heard when the ladle fell into the bowl in the peasant's hand; he was in the middle of spooning the porridge from the cauldron. Straightening his body, the young man turned around slowly, as if being careful not to jerk something on him.

...or _in_ him; Odin stared him levelly, sipping his warm brew with ease.

The young man's face was level but unreadable, examining Odin's with large eyes, then at the other men in turn, then back to Odin.

"..., sir?" he asked with a small voice.

"Your siblings last night, one of them told me that he needed help from us with this village; you didn't get the message?" Odin asked levelly.

The young man blinked, glanced at the other men's faces, finding they stared him levelly too, waiting for him to elaborate more; and stared at Odin nervously.

"Wha...? You can't-..." he whispered in surprise.

"Yes, there's something about this village you should-..." the young man smiled.

"No, no. Wait- you can't take outsiders-" then he flustered.

"-And it's so fateful that you brought your demon here, too-" and he smiled.

"No, I'm sorry, I'll be back shortly...!" he bowed a couple times and turned hastily to leave.

"It's alright; state your business, already." Odin said levelly, stopping the young man who turned at him slowly with nervous eyes.

"We owe your siblings for the bandages, the least we could do is to hear _their_ proposition...!" Odin flicked his chin at his bandaged soldiers, who eyed the young man with curiosity; while Cail sipped at his brew to hide his, and didn't have a chance to hide his cringe.

"-but... but that's family-" the young man whispered.

"-business!" he said aloud, smiling; "And I assure you that's it's for the greater good." he nodded meaningfully; walking to the end of the table, took a firewood from the pile beside the brick hearth and use it as a seat.

Odin stared at the composed smiling face, and noted he was sitting with ease on the unbalanced small piece of wood without difficulty.

"I'm Odin. Your name?" Odin repeated his question slowly.

"Oh, that's right; since you already noticed that there are a few of us so it'd be difficult to call to-" the young man started calmly with a smile, and stood up fluidly, hitting the bowl in his hand onto the table hard, leaning his body on one hand to stare at Odin's eyes. "-business only!" he narrowed his eyes with a warning, hissing the words out.

Odin stared back at the hostile eyes levelly; "How about I just call you 'rudd' or 'row', they have a feeling of cool water in them."

"...right." Cail commented silently to himself, knowing what Odin really meant with the wordplay.

"Lui. My name's Lui, sir...!" the young man bowed again with his enthusiastic tone. Cail noticed Odin tsk-ed in disappointment when the young man changed back to the enthusiastic one; he knew his Commander would look at that man as a new toy to play with, too.

"Lui, then." Odin said flatly.

"Yes, sir, please don't mind with the- Waahh!" and with a loud thump he fell over on his back, the firewood clattered on the wooden floor. "- -owhhh... at least you could've picked a _log_. My butts're not your kind of butts...!" he scooted on four to the pile of firewood.

A soft snort. "Whiny...!" a condescending whisper.

"Excuse meee? This's _my _body, I'm the one feeling the pain, not _any_ of you...!" he half-yelled to the log he got in one hand while the other was rubbing his sore parts.

Lui put the log on the floor at the end of the table; "Ah, I'm sorry with the racket...!" he bowed with his usual coy smile and nervousness, before sitting on it and fidgeted nervously. "Uhmm... please forget about-"

"-the business for the good of other dweller of this Kingdom. Are you up to it?" the composed smile was back in place.

"I'll call you 'Rudd', how about it?" Odin openly ignored the question.

"I know you meant 'rude', Commander; but it's okay if you like it..." Lui chuckled amusedly.

"Are you... a sin-eater, or something?" the fifth soldier asked hesitantly.

"Sin-eater?" Lui asked sarcastically with an annoyed angry grimaced, "Do I look hungry to you?"

Odin opened his mouth with a childish light in his eyes, Cail knew he was going to say 'I'll call you Row' and he intervened before the important topic got out of the conversation again... like last night, there were still things left hanging and he couldn't intervene to ask about them before the mood lurched down and the air became too hostile to ask about them. "What business do you have for us?"

"There's a Maggart around here." Lui said fast, smiling at Cail.

That 'Row'-thing on Odin's mouth froze before he could voice it out. "Maggart?" Odin asked with serious frown.

"What's a Maggart...?" another soldier asked, looking at his Leutenant, who looked at lost too.

"A Maggart is a fiend that eats living-people's souls... and it's always hungry! We need to stop it before it reach town...!" Lui smiled with serious tone.

Odin's left brow arched up, "...but you're going to use the Maggart to level Darque and Roude." he stated; the other men's eyes were instantly at him, and back to see the peasant's face.

"Yes..." Lui admitted with level face, "I did." he smiled; "It's their karma, they made the Maggart appeared here with every lives their silly war took. It's not going to be silly anymore when they face a Maggart in their own homes."

"The name Maggart is from..." Odin rubbed his chin, "I heard a taboo story from a wizard when I was a kid, about a beast Shepherd by the name of... Magul Gray...?"

"Magan-Glay." Lui said levelly, his face turned level too like a mask, that the others couldn't differentiate which-face was speaking. "...was our ancestor." he stared at his hands on the table.

"He invented a Maggart...-" Odin frowned.

"Maggart is the short of 'Magan-Glay art'; it was originally used to call the skill, not the outcome." the apathetic Lui stared at Odin with wide eyes.

Lui sighed deeply. "His age was when the war with magical beasts and great demons in its peak, at least for the people living in that age. He just wanted to save the animals that fallen prey to the wars, either by enemies or by humans' hands... at first...!" he frowned to the table again.

"Magan-Glay felt pity for the animal babies, especially the ones died because losing their parents to humans' selfishness; at first he collected their spirits and carried them with him... then he tried putting them into new eggs." he glanced at Odin's face, who listened with a frown.

"The eggs hatched, but the spirits were tied loosely to the hatchling's body; soon after it hatched, the hatchling died, its spirit was added to the collected-spirits..."

"Or taken." Odin commented off-handedly.

"...more like pulled along outside its body." Lui smiled, and his expression turned to a mask again. "He tried with bigger, stronger animals after that, and stopped after he failed with a horn-lion baby. But the King heard about his experiments and wanted to use it to make weapons...!"

All eyes dimmed at the last part, they knew where this story going.

"The King thought, if his skill could be used to resurrect his dead soldiers, then he'd have an endless supply of men and an undead-army." Lui frowned with contempt. "The King forced him to work with a wizard and a necromancer..."

Lui paused and the room fell silent, the small fire on the hearth burned ignorantly and the porridge smelled nice...

"It didn't work?" Cail asked.

"No. It worked." Lui lost his frown, "But only for a short limited time the dead bodies of the soldiers resurrected, and for having animal spirits inside them, they were almost uncontrollable."

"Uncontrollable but unimaginably strong..." Lui frowned again, his shadowed eyes staring distant at the table; "The outcome was even better than what the King had expected, that strength that no living human could posses. So he told them to try the other way around...!"

"Killed tamed animals to put into the dead men?" Odin asked.

"Yes."

"Did it work?" the fifth soldier quipped, already immersed in the story that he forgot about the taste of the brew in his glass he'd been sipping for some time.

"What do you think?" Lui asked back.

"It's incompatible, animal spirit inside human body." Cail commented.

Lui nodded, "When the King knew that, he asked something evil...!"

"A spirit that could be taught. Put newborn babies' spirit in the collection." Odin added the part of the story he'd heard. Ignoring the wide surprised eyes directed at him, he continued, "When the undead-soldiers stayed animated for a much longer time, the King got greedy and told them to use the living-soldier's spirit as well."

"What?" the shock men asked in unison.

"Magan-Glay wouldn't do it." Lui continued, "His objective was to save the animals, he had that soft heart to care for them that no other human cared to care in the first place. His experiments had gone way out of his objective and he planned to flee the King's City, but the King's men had his family as hostages."

Lui smiled sadly, "At that fateful night when he tried to rescue his family from the Palace, the King used his five-year-old child to force Magan-Glay to finish that experiment right then and there; so he could resurrect his child again if that child killed, the King said."

"The King killed the child?" another soldier asked wide-eyed.

Lui smirked in mockery, "That King had forgotten that Magan-Glay was a Shepherd! The old fool...!"

"He called out his beasts...!" the fifth soldier spoke hopefully.

"Yes. But in the chaos against the undead-soldiers against beasts, the child got injured badly, a sword gash on his front across the chest. Magan-Glay was horrified by the sight that he pulled out the collected-spirit from every undead-soldier in that Palace and put them inside himself." Lui sighed and stood up, taking the ladle from the bowl on the table with him.

He came back with a pan of porridge and handed them wooden spoons to eat, indicating at the empty bowls everyone had in front of them. "You will need the full stomach after this, please help yourselves."

The men complied filling their bowls to eat, wanting to hear the end of the story.

"So the King was frightened when he saw his undead-soldiers fell unmoving one by one, his necromancer couldn't do anything to stop that..." Lui continued when he saw them eating, "But the collected-spirits were too much for Magan-Glay to control, they weren't innocent spirits of animal babies anymore, along their experiments also collected the humans' hatred and thoughts and other things in them...! So when the necromancer read the spell to call the spirits into obedience, Magan-Glay's spirit was pulled along in the loop when the collected-souls shot out of his body...!"

"Did he die?" three of them asked in unison.

"He died watching his child's body lied bleeding and unmoving at the King's feet, at least his physical body died; his wife already killed herself in the chaos, not wanting to burden her husband to be used as hostage. So he charged at the King, using his 'body' of collected spirits." Lui nodded gently.

"Did he die?" the same question asked, though it was meant as the King.

Lui chuckled at that. "The wizard and necromancer tried to seal him with their skills, but Magan-Glay's fury pulled their spirits inside his 'body' as well."

The pale faces already thought that everything was lost after that.

"But his child wasn't dead, he was just fainted." Lui continued with a small smile; "Before Magan-Glay got the King the child called out to him, just like frightened children would do, seeking their parents for protection. The rational side of Magan-Glay spirit felt that pull of his paternal instinct and was pulled inside the child's body; and using his leftover mind he used his beasts to send his wounded child to safety..."

All wide eyes froze at the end of the story.

"Leaving the collected-spirits with his wrath on rampage?" Odin closed.

A collected gasps heard as the others realized about that part of the story too.

Lui nodded grimly without a word.

"So what is it about 'a Maggart' you were saying?" Odin asked levelly, to him a story was a story, he didn't feel for it.

"The first Maggart, the collected-spirits, had its creator's wrath; it dispersed after having its vengeance." Lui harrumphed, "But its binding hadn't severed, so in places where there are negatives feelings collected, or many lives die, a Maggart is bound to bind itself together again, taking the lost souls as its body and food."

"It formed here?" Odin and Cail asked together.

Lui nodded.

"Didn't you form it for your retaliation?" Odin asked openly. Cail suspected that as a possibility but didn't plan to ask it out right.

"I wish I could, Commander. But I'm not that strong; Magan-Glay himself sealed his knowledge so that his child wouldn't be hunted for it... like him." Lui stood up and open the front of his shirt, showing the red scar-like line diagonally stretched across his chest.

Before his shocked guests asked him, Lui smiled; "I'm not that child; this just means that I shared the same curse... runs in the family." he arched his shoulders while fixing his shirt back.

"What does?" Odin asked.

"Magan-Glay's blood..." Lui sat on his log again, "And his child's ability to pull-in spirits."

"You're like a living-Maggart." Odin summed up; Cail frowned at his Commander for being too blunt.

Lui chuckled merrily, "No, not really. It worked horizontally between siblings...!"

"Ah, so that's why you tricky-twins are inside his body?" Odin snorted.

Lui blinked in surprise.

"You notice we're twins?" 'Rudd' asked in amusement, if you ask Odin.

"Row is very possessive about you, Rudd-lad." Odin smirked. As if supporting his words, 'Row' gnarled at Odin; and after that, in the next second 'Rudd' stared at him dumbfounded with a nice flush on his face. Odin chuckled at the young man, though perhaps the-twins died before they matured to a man; "Yes, I noticed you're a boy, too; probably one who often mixed-up as a girl with your smiling habit..."

Odin enjoyed how that flushed face turned redder with more of his words. "You almost smelled like my demon." he leered.

Lui turned wide-eyed at the mention of the demon. "That's right, your demon-!" he jumped to his feet and almost yelled. Odin was about to be disappointed when his new toy(s) changed back to that coy young man.

"We need him." 'Rudd' said levelly, his calm composure always tricked other people's eyes, making him like he was meek and docile, and in a simple word: tame.

"What for?" Odin asked showing his dislike at the subject.

"To contain that Maggart which running free out there."

Now it's Odin's turn looking flustered, eyes wide with anger; all evil-jest fled his face. "Say what?" he hissed with a warning.

"It's fateful that you brought a dead-demon here; a living-demon couldn't contain a Maggart, but a dead one could." 'Rudd' said levelly; ignoring Odin who was baring his teeth at him. "That's probably why your General told you to bring him along to this area."

The wooden chair clattered to the floor as Odin stood up abruptly; his men gasped in surprise and fear, already prepared to see Odin charge at the young man; but he didn't. Odin's shocked angry eyes were directed at the table. _His demon wasn't in the list of the General's orderable..._; that's what his mind had chided him along the way of this trip.

_So that's why...!_ Odin clenched his fists, feeling betrayed rather than used, or miss-used; right now he really wanted to punch the sly General in the face.

"If you realized that, you better hurry to act about that Maggart, Commander." 'Rudd' didn't smile, "As it was, being a collection of lost-spirits sensing a dead-body it could use, it must have been tailing your demon since he arrived in the area...!"

"Besides, I put my-blood's signature on him when I hugged him yesterday, so the Maggart could find him easily, too..." the young man smiled calmly.

Odin instantly pulled him by his neck, almost making him to stand on his toes; he kept his calm smile, "...so either you help me containing that Maggart into your demon's body with my help, giving your demon a chance of not losing himself to the Maggart's minds... or I'll help myself in using your demon, which I'd mostly be tempted to make him submit to me in the process...-"

A yank hard enough to pull his feet off the floor, the young man stopped abruptly, his smile faltered a bit but he forced himself to word his other option out, gripping Odin's strong arm with both hands. "...or you could let the Maggart follow him to the King's City and eat everyone it sees...!"

His voice was barely audible but Odin saw his mouth forming the words; and with contempt he realized the young man was right. He threw that lithe almost malnourished-looking body to the floor with anger; Lui coughed and wheezed, propping himself on an elbow.

The room instantly filled with butterflies coming out from the crochet-works and embroideries, as they sensed their Shepherd in danger; the scents of flowers weaved so strongly in the air that made the men lightheaded and losing their strength...

* * *

><p><em>saru's note:<em>

_saru typed Heero's name in this chapter, but there's no Heero in it... hahahahahaa (you probably want to kill the-monkey for that by now) XD_

_this chapter is surprisingly took a short time to finish (only two shifts); probably because saru got too many works waiting in line...? -glancing at the work schedule and give a big evasive grin-_

_was looking into old collections of MP3, and this chapter was typed while saru listening to The Cardigan's 'Couldn't Care Less' ...it's sad, but made you think you missed that feeling of belonging to that imaginary shiny-better past you thought you had. (or saru just thought too much... or being delusional...)_

_not going to type fics for a month (at least), seeing the schedule and other plans...  
>is contemplating whether to post this chapter now, or next month...<em>

_let's throw coin._

.

.

.

.

.

'now' wins. (it really did...9"9; -sweats-)


	10. Chapter 10

**Another **** -25 Feb'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

chapter 10

The sun already set high enough to warm the air, although the cliff in front of them overshadowed their lying bodies on the damp ground; the soft grass and ferns and new sprouts around them just slowly woke up to welcome the sunlight with the clearing mist. He flexed his wings to chase away some smoky clouds caught between the feathers. The air tinged with sadness and anguish, perhaps the Maggart last night exuded those haunting feelings. A thin coil of familiar agitation tickled his nape.

He felt like Odin was near... as if the man was yelling to some border-men somewhere in the fortress in the area, hidden by the trees. But he knew it was unlikely.

Lazily opening his eyes, he took in the sight of a girly face sleeping soundly in front of his shoulder, using his left upper arm as a pillow; the boy's regular soft breaths warmed his neck and some rebellious strands of the brunette bangs brushed his chin and lips. He pulled his head behind a little, taking a better angle to look at the view. Duo fell asleep since about a couple hours ago, when the sky started to light up to a bleak grey shade; he felt Duo's restless mind the whole night, and he didn't really feel like making interaction with this human; he was just fulfilling part of Odin's duty.

A thin mist caught in the strands of the long braids and between their bodies, he pulled up his right hand and gently waved at the cloudy substance; the mist fluttered in the subtle breeze and coiled away from their entangled forms and disappeared in the warm air.

Duo moaned long and low, then; protesting for the missing hand around his waist and back that had left the places it previously touched felt cold. He scrunched up his face like he was waiting for a sneeze to come out, but then let out an explosive sigh and burrowed his face deeper to the recess under the demon's chin and chest, taking deep savoring breaths of the demon's smell, as if he could inhale those soft unearthly feathers like an addictive drug.

The demon frowned softly, knowing how Duo had reacted to him in the past days, his fascination and overly self-consciousness about his wings too. There's something wrong about this human boy, he was innocently dangerous; like impossibly so, that made others think of him as unlikely to cause harm. That what had made the soldiers escorting this boy caught off guard; not because of the sudden ambush, but this boy's nature. If he wasn't interjecting from between the assaults, he might as well saw this human as just another ignorant boy; charming and lively, perhaps; but not dangerous.

_...Charms_.

The demon blinked.

May be the boy's amulets were to blame for that... His frown got deeper, not liking the thought forming in his mind. He remembered what the boy said about the amulets; that they could only work within close vicinity towards him.

What kind of human needed so many amulets with him just to be deemed as not-dangerous by his fellow humans...?

_As if he needed them to be human..._ the demon thinned his lips.

And then, a twitching finger.

A sudden pause of breath.

And Duo's eyelids flew open, instantly wide awake.

Pausing for a held breath to escape his slightly parted lips slowly.

"...Heero."

And then came the whisper, gentle and slightly surprised but had such finality in it; almost sounded desperate but resigned in the same time.

The demon blinked and pulled back; Duo gasped and gripped at the jacket's front, caught himself when the demon paused, and then shied away from their arrangement almost in a panic.

"S- sorry, I was half asleep...!" he made an excuse, which sounded like a lie even to his own ears, and sat up presenting his back to the demon, fastening the flies of his cloak and brushing off the leaves and twigs from his braids; his heart beat painfully in his chest, knowing that the demon knew he was already fully awake from the moment he opened his eyes.

"You still have provisions?" the demon stood up and asked evenly.

"Ah- yes...!" Duo looked up from one shoulder, cursing himself at how nervous he sounded.

"We go now, the Maggart's gone; eat on the way."

Duo blinked a couple times at the demon's words, at the content but also at their half-sentenced in the same time. It's like the demon deliberately skipped the explanations and just stuffed the subject-predicate-object rule of three sentences into one sentence. It's even beyond being practical, he thought; but he understood what the demon meant, so he let it passed.

"...you need time?" the demon asked again when Duo just stared at him from the ground.

"Uh- no!" Duo sprang to his feet, staring wide-eyed at the demon like a hungry child eyeing a giant candy; but the demon already turned his back, looking down at his right hand as he flexed its fingers.

They felt numb.

He needed to find Odin before his body stop moving altogether. He reckoned he still had about three days until that happened, saying if they didn't have to face anymore pursuers or monsters that make him waste more life-force to fight or to run.

"...sorry. I used your arm as a pillow the whole night..."

The demon turned his head at the soft apologetic words. Duo stood near the dead fire with his bag already slung on one shoulder across his chest, his two braids tucked neatly on his front, his cloak hood draped loosely covering half his head, letting the bangs freely played by the morning breeze. Several sunbeams passed through the leaves and branches making a surreal background for him as the remaining subtle mist providing the canvas for the lights. Heero wanted to point out that he'd used his left arm to pillow Duo's head and not his right, and that it was him who took the action for it last night, and that he didn't have his blood flowing through his veins to get a cut of circulation, and that he should be the one apologizing for the fact that he made Duo lied on the ground without so much of a covering to shield the dampness from soaking his clothes, and that he didn't mind it since it was a part of Odin's duty too.

But his words never came up to the surface, and the last part was more like an excuse that dulled his reasons. And he found himself captivated by the beauty that human presented ignorantly; and realized what was dangerous about this boy...

A small black butterfly fluttered lightly between them; cutting the distance separating their beings in halve. Duo's eyes caught the sight of it and smiled fondly at the gorgeous small creature. Then he looked at the demon's eyes staring at him mutely.

"Let's go!" he said still with the smile intact.

. . . it was _him_. His whole being was dangerous.

* * *

><p>"So, ...what's a Maggart like?" Duo asked conversationally between his chewing.<p>

"It has-"

"...many forms; I get that part already. Tell me something more specific if I am not allowed to look at it in the eyes...!" Duo cut, and took another bite of the juicy fruit.

The demon didn't say a word for a moment, looking up at a cluster of ripe wild fruits and flexed his right forefinger at the high branch; caught the fruits as they fell onto his waiting hand. He offered them to Duo who walked behind him.

"Thank-you. It's already plenty enough as it is...!" Duo accepted the fruits and added them to the collection he clasped on his chest, which he could barely hold in his arms.

"They're mostly dust-like." the demon said.

"Dust-like?" Duo's right brow arched up in incomprehension.

"In the wind."

". . . like dust in the wind?" Duo said slowly in bafflement.

"Ever see the desert?" the demon asked.

"Umm...no."

"You could imagine the dust carried by the wind when it blows through the surface of the sand?"

"Ah! I guess I get it...!" Duo brightened. "So... it has windy-form?" Duo asked hesitantly. "With eyes?"

"They took forms of animals, habitually the form of horn-lions; but sometimes of other animals you had never seen too."

"I've never seen a horn-lion..." Duo quipped matter-of-factly.

"It's sand-colored."

Duo sweat-dropped at the adequate explanation; "...and?"

"And big."

To Duo's relief, the demon's words didn't stop there.

"And has multiple horns sticking out from between its mane."

"Oh, I get-"

"But you wouldn't see Maggarts like that..." the demon cut Duo's victorious tone. "Maggarts were formed from many life-forms, so you might classify their shapes as chimera-like."

"...oh..." Duo's excitement downed.

"And you might find human faces in them, too."

Duo didn't say another word at that, already feeling overwhelmed with the possibility that the Maggart had more than the pair of eyes on the front of its face. He didn't like the idea that he found a tail of the thing's staring at him with eyes and marked him for life as its prey.

"And sometimes you find more of human parts coiled in its body in such absurd way."

"I get it already...! If there's something like that, just shut my eyes and play dead until it's gone, right?" Duo flustered. The demon turned behind to look at him levelly, but it still made Duo embarrassed by his outburst.

"Its body usually looked like coiling cloud of dust with an animal shape; it wouldn't look distorted with too many faces or eyes if it's not bothered. You don't need to worry about accidently staring at its eyes too much."

_Now you tell me that...!_ Duo stared the demon's level face with a hard look.

"...but if you do..." the demon continued sounding hesitant enough; he paused mid-sentence and stared at Duo closely, and then turned forward and resumed his walk.

It left Duo blinking with half gaping mouth. "...'If I do', what...?" Duo demanded the rest of the explanation.

"Call out to your dead ones." the demon said unexcitedly, as if being bored.

"Dead ones?"

"Like your dead family; or your ancestors."

"...my ancestors?" Duo asked sounding more and more skeptical.

"You have parts of your ancestors inside you. Every living being has."

"Umm... will that help?" Duo asked sounding like a child.

"Just pray that miraculously one of your ancestors was someone who had survived an encounter with a Maggart."

"Tha... That's like..." Duo's face contorted in a skeptical grimace and a matter-of-factly frown; "...throwing empty buckets to try put down the fire because you don't find water...!"

The demon paused and glanced at Duo for a moment before continuing, "Names have power in them. At least you should belief your parents' names hold prayers for their descendants to live on."

This time Duo paused. He cocked his head to the side, mulling at the demon's reasoning; he didn't know what it's like with the demons' naming system, but he didn't think humans gave a child a name so that the child's descendants could later live on and on, or to survive hardships when the necessity comes; or prayers for the generations to come, for that matter. What kind of absurd names would it produce? Something like 'Longlive Ye Heirs of Strongwilled Purehearts Grace of Powerful Farmer'...?

At the time his eyes caught the sight of the demon's feet pausing, and he looked up to see the demon's eyes looking at him; he felt sheepish with his own thought and chuckled at the demon with a big grin, though the merriment didn't reach his eyes.

"Hey, supposing..." Duo's grin fell a bit; "...I don't know my family; then what? Though I don't think calling out my dead parents' names, if I knew them, would help in any way. You said a Maggart consumed the mind before killing its prey, right? What would it good-"

"Knowing the root of your existence helps center yourself; inside you there's a collection of your ancestors life-experiences, like small grains of dust coiling in your core. In a sense you're the same with a Maggart, only difference is that you still have your body to house all those lives that formed you. If you face a Maggart and it pull your awareness into it; center your consciousness to your core... you'll find that at least one of your ancestors would want you to survive and lend you their life-experience to pass the ordeal." the demon paused and added an afterthought, "...May be."

"May be?" Duo frowned with a bothered face. After all that lengthy absurd explanation that somehow started to make sense, he just had to break the hope that started growing in his heart, now?

"I don't know your ancestors and their life-experiences." the demon walked again.

Duo gave a loose grinning-grimace with drooped eyes; what could be more wrong with the demon's logics after all that?

"Like... hey; I couldn't possibly list all of my known ancestors and call out their names when the need comes...!" Duo resumed his walking too, while putting the rest of the fruits into his bag.

"You can't?" the demon turned sharply and that was the most close-to-normal conversational tone the demon made, Duo noted to himself.

"W- ...well..." Duo stuttered a little by the weight of the _almost_-surprised look on the demon's usually mask-like face. "...I don't know demon's naming system, but with humans... you don't find we have prayer-like names that could come in handy for the generations to come whenever they met dangerous situations, right?"

The demon paused, seemingly mulling at his words.

"Your Blood, or your Life, doesn't have a name...?" the demon asked in half-incomprehension, then.

Duo blinked a couple times in reflex of his thinking process; "...My blood? You mean my bloodline, like family name...?"

"No. More like..." the demon frowned a little. "...your soul... It should have your ancestor's name in it."

"So you mean I should call out to _my_ soul's name if I had one...?" Duo's mind got into another dead loop with the reasoning.

"...Never mind; if you don't have it." the demon presented his back to Duo again; though to Duo's eyes, it was his baffled back. "Then, if you see a Maggart and it hasn't seen you, you could play dead. But if it sees you, even if you haven't seen it in the eyes; run and prepare to die! A Maggart's claws could rip even the toughest rocks or alloys to shreds like it was paper."

"EEEEHH? You could have said that in the first place...!" Duo objected.

And paused.

"...what do you mean 'run and prepare to die'...?" he asked accusingly.

The demon didn't say anything to that; his mind pointed out that humans were ignorantly leaving themselves vulnerable, no wonder they were very paranoid about having the war with the demons to start again... but it might just because the demons had different knowledge with things; and longer life spans to learn more than what a human could learn in all his lifetime.

Besides...

Demons had their ancestors' knowledge as they're passed to them from generation to generation; eventhough they're limited to the knowledge which the ancestors willing to pass down. It's like they didn't need to learn to read spells or the sky, the knowledge was already in their minds. Humans didn't do that; their beings developed individually and knowledge had to be taught and learned with interactions and comprehension, not by legacy carried in the blood. Demons were not individuals; they're the extensions of another demon from the past.

Humans, in the other hand, were such imperfect creatures in many ways... yet the ones facing extinction were his kind.

_Why is that...?_

". . . extinction by choice." he muttered softly.

"You said something...?" Duo asked loud enough still with a bothered face, not about the demon's words but about the difference in their logics; his mind took more time then what he'd like to digest the demon's explanation, it made him felt left out and inferior; and he didn't like to lose in certain aspects of life, like no compromise...ever. Such as..., he frowned to himself; when dealing with demons.

Because he should be a victor in that area...

A sense of justification crept from his inner-self at the thought; a flush of relief then washed over him, like a sighing that came from within to the center, swallowing all worries and anxiety as if they were prey.

Yes.

His core should understand what the demon was talking about; with that in mind Duo decided that he didn't have anything to worry about... for now.

* * *

><p>Odin put his hands on his hips and stared at the stones they had set up. 'Rudd' had specifically told them what to do to make the arrangements; although Odin had started with half the heart, his perfectionist streak had driven him to do it faultless as told. While the devil was watching them from the side of the clearing still with his annoying smile intact.<p>

"That's perfect, Commander. Thank-you for your hard work...!" 'Rudd' smiled wider; the Lieutenant and the three soldiers from this morning turned their heads from where they were standing after setting the obelisks on their places.

"What are we going to do from here?" Odin asked with a frown, his mind was still thinking that he didn't like doing this.

"We'll capture the Maggart here; at the center." 'Rudd' pointed to where Odin was standing.

"...And?" Odin asked, seemingly dissatisfied with that action.

"And we don't let it leave." 'Rudd' chuckled as if finding Odin's reaction funny.

Odin's frown got deeper; "So you just needed help with the stones?"

"Ah... You're going to say that being a Shepherd I should be able to make the beasts around here moved the obelisks for me, right?" the peasant's face smiled merrily; "But I told you I don't deal with real animals...!"

"Besides, we use this place because no animals had trudged on it." 'Rudd' walked over to the center, nearing Odin.

"No animals at all?" Odin asked flatly, just wanting to get a pressure of that statement from the peasant.

"None, whatsoever. They're afraid of the smell." 'Rudd' smiled calmly.

"Hah! Why so?" Odin sniggered cynically and turned around after giving the stone arrangement a cursorily glance; and was surprised finding 'Row' stared him with narrowed eyes almost a breath away from his face.

"This is the ground of 'hatred blood'... Commander!" 'Row' hissed slowly with silky almost enjoying tone.

Odin widened his eyes with a hard look; the peasant took a step back from Odin's front pulling along a bloody grass-like leaf from the man's stomach. "This is where we made human sacrifice." 'Row' said levelly, watching Odin fell to his knees holding his fresh wound.

"If you move around, your bleeding will get worsen; this leaf here is the opposite kind for stopping hemorrhaging." 'Row' said turning his back and walked to the edge of the circling stones. "Your demon should be able to know when you got life-threatening wounds, right?"

"I told you to pay more respect to your own value; this is where you come in handy. So shut it!" hissing out the last part, 'Row' narrowed his eyes at Cail who had a sword at his neck when he reached the edge. The Lieutenant paused at the intense cold gaze, knowing the peasant could care less what would happen to them if anything gone wrong; he didn't want to provoke the 'crazy' peasant, and his logics told him to see what the peasant would do from here and take action later when he judge it necessary.

Odin che-ed with a dark grimace, looking at the bloody hand, noticing how diluted his blood was as it gush out in a large stream; "You... the brew from this morning...!" Odin hissed.

"We'll wait for awhile..." 'Row' said calmly, apathetically; all the while still staring sharply at Cail's eyes. "When your demon comes, I'll give you something for that small wound."

Odin chuckled, then; a sinister deep laugh loud enough to make the soldiers took a step back and Cail pulled back his unsheathed sword from the peasant's neck.

"YOU THINK I'M A GIRL WHO NEEDS PROTECTION, BOOOY?" Odin sprang to his feet in one fluid motion and posing his most deadly glare with euphoria pumping adrenaline to his whole body making him leer widely. Cail took a step back from his standing point by the outer edge of the array; for certain things, Odin was notoriously known as berserker, and he'd had more than just one brush with his superiors which what made him never leveled up within the ranks... there were rumors that even the General himself feared him, and **The Master** kept him sheltered in the Palace as a war-dog-on-the-leash just so he wouldn't gain power to overthrow the government, which meant they thought he could do just that. That he had more enemies even in the Palace more than the vultures-to-the-throne.

Right after Odin straightened his posture, a gust of sharp wind hit his back and then a huge animal-like form of wafting sand-colored smoke appeared from nowhere behind him; Odin could see the thing's shape from its shadow casted by the still oblique sunlight making the shadow looked longer than the real thing. His mind instantly processed the situation and came up with a conclusion, if it had shadow than it was substantial. He was about to pull his sword and lash at the thing behind him, but the peasant's booming voice stopped him from moving.

"STAY BEHIND YOUR STONES AND DON'T LOOK AT ITS EYES!" the peasant yelled, his presented back looked rigid and exuding a very thick anger at the thing, and he made sure that the soldiers were in the safe spots; that much Odin could sum up, so he didn't take the first move. The peasant smirked to himself, "Do you know what was special about you, Commander? That blood full of life-force that enticed that demon of yours to submit to you...!"

And he chuckled pleasingly; "So if you could pull at least one of them out of there, I'd be most grateful...!" 'Rudd' said softly. Then he placed his palm at the side of the stone Cail used as a shield, still presenting his back to the center of the stone array. "...The cage of four-corner stones..."

Cail gaped when he realized the peasant was reciting a spell of some sort; "My Commander is still there...!" he hissed with hard voice, but he gasped when a stinging power pulled his back flat to the stone surface; some surprised yelps told him that his three soldiers too experienced the same thing, likely because the peasant told them to hide behind the stones that they reflexively placed their backs on those obelisks. Cail cursed in his mind when he realized that the peasant had them played on his hand all along, he focused his mind to wait for his moment to free himself as he felt that surge of lashing power ripped his spines and made him immobile, even he had to fight to keep his breathing.

...or maybe, that surge of power was his life-force pulled out from his body.

Odin stood still when the ground under his feet reverberated with pulses, he could feel the Maggart's 'breathing' behind his head making the sounds like roaring fire, only it was freezing cold and exuding unpleasant feeling that made him feel sickened. He could feel the thing's form was bigger than the mountain-broughams and was taller than himself, probably twice his height. The wild air around them told Odin that the body was solid enough and he probably couldn't do anything much with his sword; his ears never picked up any feed like this even once in his whole life, it was rock solid and intangible at the same time; one but many, calm but boiling... He closed his eyes to hear more, centering his concentration to search the Maggart's weak point if it had any.

The obelisks gave out a synchronized ringing as it pulsated with power, the circling winds picked up in speed, the leaves of the trees around the clearing rustled along with the gusting power.

The Maggart stood still behind Odin, breathing heavily as if it was petrified by hunger.

Odin's brows twitched when his ears picked up something more than just the winds and ringing and rustling leaves... something like screeching; no, screaming...!

Voices!

He heard voices from inside the Maggart's body... screaming... frightened girls... females of all ages...!

A distinctive single voice reached his ears, but he couldn't make out the words.

At the same time, the grounds started shaking like an earthquake had struck; 'Rudd' was in the middle of his incantation, and he widened his eyes when he realized something was coming their way. "No! It's too early...!" He turned around and yelled in panic; "STOOOP! YOU'LL ANGER IT...!" and extending his right hand to the center as far as he could before in an exploding second a large long pair of jaws with pointy uncountable teeth along their lengths emerging from the ground and closed, trapping the Maggart inside.

Cail was freed from the stone almost with a pushing jerk, he gasped in a much needed air but his body was already half way into action. "Commander...!" he wanted to call out but his lungs only provided him with enough air to hiss it out.

The long jaws belonged to an enormous creature looking like ... worm; that much his baffled mind supplied him with. A nasty looking worm formed of white bone-like skin and a crocodile's muzzle only without eyes and nostrils. The creature's long body (or probably still the neck part) pushed itself out of the ground with its momentum, and it was towering in the center of the array a good five- no, six stories high; almost as high as the Palace's barbican. Some pieces of the soil, large and small, were falling from its mouth; Cail watched with horror when his logics told him to search for streaming blood on the creature's jaws too that should belong to his Commander. Petrified for a couple of seconds, his brain finally able to link all the information flooding in; with a disbelieving smirk, almost looking like he was actually disappointed, Cail's eyes found Odin stood undisturbed on the place he was at before the creature surged out from the ground, still closing his eyes in calm concentration and looking mighty... _But that can't be_; his logic mocked him. It's true that only the ground around Odin was still intact, forming a circle of calmness compared to the chaos around it; even the creature's body dispersed into gills-like or feather-like limbs opened up around him almost like the opened fingers of two hands.

"Ha... ha ha... haa...!" Cail laughed with wide eyes, a crooked un-merry laugh but he knew now why other people feared his Commander behind the man's back; saying things like he's the cursed-child or luck-eater or other people's jinx. Perhaps the man himself didn't realize it... something like what Cail was witnessing now must have happened before too, right?

A shout broke his thought.

"STOOOP! IT WILL EAT YOU TOOO...!" Lui was the one screaming with desperate tone, he had fallen to his knees a couple steps into the array when the ground broke. And as if hearing its cue, the Maggart exploded inside the creature's mouth.

Like a blow of sand with wild living-like tendrils shooting out from between the creature's teeth, it clutched the jaws tightly like an immovable harness. The creature tried to shake it loose, but the Maggart's clutch seemed to only becoming tighter with each effort.

"Uwaah...-!" one of the soldiers managed to yelp when the ground started to shake harder and cracked to the outer edge of the array, making the obelisks lurched to every sides unsteadily; they somehow realized it collectively that the stones must not tumbled over or they'd meet their demise; so greeting their teeth, they pushed their feet onto the breaking ground and willed the stones on their backs to be steady, acting as the stones supports instead, including Cail who somehow was half disappointed that now he couldn't witness things happening around his Commander with his own eyes anymore.

A single pulse reverberated from the stones when their will united; the men felt it as if the stones on their back were four parts of a big heart... they could feel small pulsations tapping their spines in steady rhythm, the cold of the uneven rock surface gradually turned warmer with each beat. A sudden realization hit them then; a fear more freezing than the fact that they had a Maggart ran berserk behind their stones... was that the stones were actually living-things. When they closed their eyes, they could see it in their minds how there were shining veins in the rocks, transporting their life-force from their backs into the core of the stones where the 'hearts' beat.

And then gentle, transparent white hands touched their shoulders from behind, helping them to steady the obelisks.

Lui gasped when the ground around the creature exploding white-light like a geyser, following the cracks of the ground to where the stones were. He stared wide-eyed as the air was filled with raining light, like it was snowing. The geyser-light made a form of seal on the ground; Lui had a split second to cover his ears before the creature burst into light with a deafening screech.

Odin furrowed his brows deeper in concentration, he didn't really understand what was happening behind and around him; all he could sense was that there was a burst of warm puffy-like substance raining down on him. He could picture it white colored, and light as it swayed in the wind; like cottony seeds of flowers in the springtime where he used to chase around without a care in the world when he was still a snotty brat. Right... His mind brought him back to that flower field, leaving the shattering ground and screeching air behind him.

A horror-filled scream broke his trance.

And it was heard again, high-pitched desperate cry that shook everyone's soul upon hearing it.

Odin opened his eyes instantly as the screams sounded getting near and nearer his back, as if it tried to reach him. He spun around and reflexively extended his right hand towards that scream, and got petrified when he witnessed the coiling tendrils of sand and what appeared to be shining white-shoots that were sprouting from the grounds, making grand arcs like a bizarre cupola; twisting and writhing on the center-arc as they tried to subdue each other. A whiff of feather-light touch brushed the ends of his reached-out hand, it felt familiar like when he'd accidently touched his demon's feathers; he sought it without thinking and gripped the air... and then wisps of white smoke wafted from between his knuckles, swirling wildly as if being pulled by the coiling sand-tendrils of the Maggart.

It was quivering in fright..., Odin realized.

...the white smoke.

It's like it was alive; like if he gripped it tightly without letting it escaping from between his fingers it would feel like a frail hand.

"-Pu... Pull her out of there...!" Lui cried out, pleadingly; while bracing himself on four and tried to move forward on the quaking debris.

Odin jerked from his petrifaction, and his body moved as told before his mind realizing what he was doing. Putting his body weight behind his back, he pulled as hard as he could, and was expecting his body to tumble behind with the momentum. But the pull from the twisting coils was too strong it seemed; half dangling by his hand, Odin kicked his feet backpedalling from the center of the clearing; if it was himself witnessing someone else doing what he did, he'd probably make a remark like that person looked like he was fighting control over a bizarre kite and was pathetically losing the game.

Gritting his teeth, groaning with the effort and growling with the building frustration... And then slowly, wanly, the quivering smoke started to gather around his tightly clutching fingers. Odin recognized the sensation all too well, the unearthly softness that evaporated when he touched it, wafting and coiling on his skin as his fingers ran through it... At that moment, his heart whispered the fear into his mind; that the worst possibility was that his demon was already fallen prey to the Maggart.

With an angry shout Odin pulled his hand, even if the force would rip it off of his shoulder. He could backed away a small step behind, and then another larger step; the twisting force in the center became restless and he felt like his soul was about to be sucked out of his chest. Suddenly as if the writhing Maggart took a breaking gasp, the pulling force slowed down for a second; Odin's body lurched backward with the momentum, and he stared wide-eyed as he saw what he was pulling all along. It was a little girl made of smoke.

"-Liya! Liyaa!" Lui called out in haste and tried to get on his feet and moved towards Odin. "Pull her out! Please, pull her ouuut!" Lui plead in panic, he knew he couldn't make it in time to get to where Odin stood... -or in the middle of tumbling behind, to be exact.

And as if mocking his desperate plea; the gasping Maggart suddenly pulled her again with multiplied force, sucking in even the arching shining-shoots suspending the writhing sands to the ground into its coiling body.

Odin's body yanked forward again before it managed to fall to the ground, an excruciating pain shot out from his arm joints and he heard several crack-sounds reaching his ears in the same time, numbing his mind.

The smoky little girl called Liya, sought Lui's face in dread. She cried something out but her voice couldn't be heard between the billowing winds and the unearthly groaning-cry the Maggart made. Lui ran towards her fumblingly, he knew she'd let Odin's hand go because this time the man would be sucked in by the force too. And while letting go her grip, she screamed desperately to him.

Odin fell on his back with a groan, gritting his teeth in anger that he couldn't do it like he was asked, like he wanted. The smoky-girl stared at him now, knowing that her voice couldn't reach the young peasant; she tried screaming the same thing to Odin, trying to claw on the invisible air to stop herself from being sucked into the angry Maggart. But her resistance was futile, and the Maggart mocked her effort by coiling several tendrils of sands around her rapidly wafting body and pulled her instantly.

Odin heard her screams in his mind when she vanished from sight; then the other screams from all those females meant that there were others beside her inside that thing, he realized. Stood up with a renewed anger, Odin pulled his sword out and charged at the coiling chaos, intending to rip that thing apart, even without knowing how to do it.

Lui lost his fervor when the Maggart swallowed Liya back; he was sitting on the ground half kneeling supported by his hands. He knew what the girl was trying to say to him, what she told him to do; he didn't have to actually hear the words. Looking half bewildered and petrified at the same time, he stood still watching Odin fighting the sand tendrils and slashing at the boiling core. He heard the cracks of the obelisks as they broke and started to crumble; he heard the yelps of the men as they freed from the stones and were gasping for air on the grounds, as they bewilderedly watching what their Commander was fighting against and couldn't will or summon any strength or bravery to join the brawl.

Lui straightened himself, sitting on his bent legs; his shoulders sagged as if he'd lost the fight already.

"...You! Do something!" Cail shouted, out of breath and looking like he was about to collapse from fatigue; "What should I do?" He was kneeling and still tried to keep the rest of his obelisk standing.

Lui glanced behind with dead eyes at the man; he smiled a goodbye-smile and shook his head. Cail was about to shout his anger at the young man, but Lui already resigned; taking the Druid dagger from the waistband behind his back, he stabbed his left palm with the pointy end of dagger handle.

"...I'm sorry..." he muttered, pulling the dagger from his hand and letting the blood dripped onto the ground. "Please, die...!"

He smiled.

Cail gaped in disbelief.

The light from the ground instantly died.

The arcing lights started to solidify with multiple cracking sounds, turning to wood-like substance with broken uneven surface. Just when Odin was slammed to the ground and about to get stabbed by a sand tendril, uncountable white-shoots sprouting from the ground, twisting and coiling and solidifying instantly. Odin knew he had to get away from there and was fighting his way out between the sprouting shoots and breaking debris and the still flailing tendrils of the Maggart. He didn't really care when he was eventually crawling on four and knew his men might be watching him doing so; and then the quakes subsided...and the wind stopped billowing.

When he thought he'd reached the ground where he didn't find shoots sprouting around him, he turned his body around, still crawling on the ground, fell to sit when he realized the sight presented before him. A white giant tree stood gloriously on the center of the clearing, just where the core of the fight should have been; undoubtedly trapping the Maggart inside its coiling trunks; some parts of them were transparent and glass-like, while the others were glazed with white-smoky color. It's like the tree was an ice-carving. Its canopy was fully made of flowers; the petals were white and luminescent, shining a green light on their surface. They lightly rained down with the wind, marking the calmness on its wake.

The flower scent filled the air, infiltrating the men's minds and their consciousness.

Odin thought he saw the Maggart's tendrils frozen inside the transparent trunks before his surroundings turned completely white.

* * *

><p>"...-Ow! Sorry!" Duo said reflexively when he bumped his face to Heero's back; although it was the demon who suddenly stopped in front of him.<p>

Took two steps back, Duo asked while rubbing his face; "What is it? You surprised me...!"

The demon didn't immediately reply; instead, he flicked his wings half opened from under the hat-flaps. Duo half-jerked half-shivered when he saw the fluttering feathers; he knew the demon realized it that he reacted too much to his wings, but he was grateful that the said demon looked like he didn't mind it at the time.

Wait.

But that's not right; demons should be overly self-conscious about their wings _all the time_...! His mind reminded.

"Heero...?" Duo moved to his side and braved himself to poke at the demon's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

The demon looked baffled and (almost) shocked himself to a whiter-shade if he hadn't already dead-pale. He took times to opened his lips and found his voice.

". . . . . . . . . Odin-" he whispered breathlessly.

"-gone . . . !"

"What?" Duo blinked rapidly in incomprehension, and jerked his hand away when the demon's wings suddenly fanned out and closed tightly on the sides of his face violently; he almost expected to hear a slapping sound when that happened. And without a warning, the demon's body fell forward like a puppet cut off from its strings.

"-Whoaa!" Duo yelped catching him mid-fall. "What? What happened?" Duo asked aloud in panic, realizing the demon was somewhat unconscious; "Someone tell me what's happeniiiing...!" His hysterical voice only made some birds fly from the trees in surprise.

* * *

><p>"-Finally!" a relieved face looming above him when he opened his stinging eyes; "We thought you wouldn't wake up at all...!"<p>

Blinked.

That should be the face of one of the bedridden soldiers.

Frowned.

He looked okay, though... only some scrapes and light bandages around his neck and arms.

"...you okay?" he asked at the soldier; who froze for several seconds before turning his body swiftly.

"Miiiiiiisssss, my Commander lost his miiiiind! Please help hi-...! Owh!" A boot to his head stopped his yelling.

"...the hell? What do you mean I lost my mind...?" Odin growled and sat up; a shot of multiple pains stopped him from moving and he let out a small groan; and cursed angrily when he realized the soldier heard it.

The said soldier shrunk on the floor holding his abused head, avoiding the man's eyes knowing Odin was undoubtedly glaring death at him.

"Waaah, it's good that you're finally conscious, Commander...!" A little girl came bouncingly with her light steps from the stairs to the first floor, she had a tray filled with a mug and two small bowls of colorful pill-like candies... or candy-like pills; that made Odin frowned deeper.

She cheerfully hummed a song while checking Odin's wounds; and Odin realized with surprise.

"...Liya?" he whispered.

The girl stopped and stared at Odin's eyes; then smiled a full bright-smile, nodding her answer.

"Wha-..." Odin gaped.

"Here, please finish all of them...!" Liya shoved the tray to Odin's hands; "You're the last one to wake up; your men were already saying prays for you, you know?" she grinned; while the soldier still on the floor looked pale and shook his head hastily with a wide gaping mouth.

Odin stared at the man and to Cail who poked his head from the stairway and nodded to him, cueing for Odin to follow him.

Turning his face to the still smiling girl, Odin asked; "What are these?"

"Candy, of course." she said lightly.

Odin stared her accusingly; "Why do I need to finish up some candies-...?"

"Just do it, already!" Liya poured the bowls contents into the steaming mug and forced it to Odin's mouth.

Odin eyed her with a subdued irritation and gulped the warm water down. The candy-pills have somewhat melted a little into smaller gel-like goo bullets on the base of the mug. He downed it all and made a loud strange belching/retching sound with a pale face in the end.

"...whaaat was thaaaaats?" he asked robot-like failing a death-glare to the smiling girl.

"The mug content was a very effective one-dose-only medicine that could do wonders just take a look at your subordinates but tastes verrrrry bitter so I brought you some pill-shaped candies to ease the bitter aftertaste but thought that you might not like sweets too much so I brought along some bitter candy-colored pills to ease the strong sweet taste of the candies so you could finish the medicine first and take the candy and pill in turns to ease the tastes... ah, I forgot about that, but it's faster that way, right?" she said cheerfully.

Odin eyed the girl with drooping accusing eyes and gaping mouth, hadn't really decided whether to get angry or just pretend he didn't hear the reason why he had to take some medicine two times bitter than it was supposed to be... and the candy did leave strange aftertaste, after all. But since it already happened, he let it passed; and decided he should check what Cail wanted to show him instead.

Liya chuckled pleasingly and offered her small hand to help Odin get up from the bed. He took her offered hand just to make sure it was the same hand he'd gripped in its smoky form; but he couldn't really tell.

A fast inspection of the room told Odin that it was exactly the second floor of the peasant's house... -the peasant's sister's house...! He corrected his thought.

But something felt different...

"Liyaaa! Come help us with this...!" a woman's voice called out from outside the window.

"Yeeeess!" she called out and nodded to Odin when she let his hand go and trotted bouncingly downstairs.

Odin frowned at the window and gave a full death glare at the soldier when he offered him a hand to walk around. While putting on his boots, he realized that he wasn't as wounded as he was supposed to; his body was just extremely tired as if his life-force was forcefully sucked out of him.

He frowned grudgingly at the idea.

The soldier followed him downstairs and joined the others on the table; Odin left them and followed Cail who waited for him by the front door.

"Something's different." Odin muttered to the Lieutenant, eyeing the ladies being busy with their daily routine on the single road and their houses... the houses that looked never been abandoned at all. "Are we dead?"

"I don't know, Sir; but you should check this...!" Cail walked outside the house towards the end of the road, which was barricaded by a high cliff made of ice-like crystal, with clear transparent parts and white-glazed parts intermingled into some kind of woven wall. Two stone pillars stood at either sides of the road end; he remembered them like they were the picture of an enemy's face leering with a mocking grin at him.

"The four-corner stones...!" Odin muttered. Cail nodded beside him. "Did you check the other end of this road?" Odin pointed the single road with his chin.

"I had two of the soldiers to do so, Sir. They said the other two are there; and the cliff too." Cail answered softly.

"This crystal-like cliff..." Odin rubbed his white-bearded chin in thinking; "We're inside _that_ tree?" he asked with a teeth-baring grimace.

"I don't know, Sir." Cail frowned, and continued when Odin stared at him with dissatisfaction; "What I can tell you, Sir; is that you were most likely the last one to have lost consciousness in _that_ fight, that made you the last one to wake up _here_."

Odin silenced already thinking about that before the Lieutenant said it. "You don't find _him_ here?" he said it like a question but Cail knew his Commander already known it as a fact.

"No, Sir. All this village's residents are females."

"Really...?" Odin smirked at the cliff; "I wonder if our young Shepherd actually know this place, at all. Didn't he say his sister was gone somewhere?"

"About that..."

"I know. There were no paintings or anything of animal-like in that house." Odin cut. There were not even the sounds of chirping birds, much less the sight of a living animal anywhere. Their horses weren't there; and most noticeably, the Lessard wasn't anywhere in sight...!

"Sir." Cail scooted over towards him; "This place might look similar to that village, but it must be a different place, all together." he said low at his Commander; as if afraid one of the ladies caught him saying it.

Odin gave him _the_ stare. Cail looked unnerved for a moment.

"Of course it is! This thing didn't exist o_ver there_...!" he said matter-of-factly and slapped his palm on that cliff.

A booming shattering-glass sound instantly filled the air.

Odin jerked in surprise and reflexively covered his hurting ears. Next to him Cail did the same, already down on his knees as if he couldn't stand it. The soldiers came rushing out of the house covering their ears with various grimace on their faces; some of them looked pained and the other looked like they were just being disturbed by the loud unending sounds and two of them just looked down right surprised.

The ladies stopped their activities immediately and stared at them, wide-eyed as if having been caught in the act, but they smiled gently in the end.

All of them.

...A parting smile; Odin realized.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks for reading<strong>, and for being patient with this weird-monkey._

_Saru's note:_

...if you noticed the date up there... yes it's written 25th february...! But, duh...!  
><em>(these things written down here would be complaints and all... that's your warning)<em>

so, we had this project for an entry for a comic exhibition in Canada (said our editor), which the entry-date should be ended on 31st March; and despite given the project briefing still from January, we only started making it 3 weeks before our deadline on 10th March because we had other novels to be illustrated and all, while the entry should be 32 pages of printed comic...that was, we started around the last two-weeks of February... heheh...

thus, lining the work at 2-3 pages per day, we got ahead of schedule on 25th Feb and Oni-tan said she wanted to photo-hunt a cosplay event on the next day (26th Feb)... which was why saru thought to take the night off to write some fic...  
>annnnnnnd saru should've known that saru is always have this 'instant-<em><span>kualat<span>_'-cloud looming above head (Javanese word loosely translated as 'cursed').

on 26th Feb, Oni-tan came back in the evening (or was it night...? -forgotten- ...forget it!) saying she's not feeling well because she said she got herself under the rain on the way home; and taking the next day off only uploading some works at an internet-rental in the neighborhood, the next day she got sick for over a week. bedridden. off-work. off-schedule.  
>and saru worked alone trying to keep track with our deadline.<p>

on 6th March Oni-tan got back to her tracing table, saying she got adrenaline pumped up her veins for the rest of the project;  
>while saru on the brink of fatality said 'give back my <em><span>life-fooooooorce<span>_...!' (loosely translated as '_the several-milimeters- thick of flesh under my skin -specially on the back- which was eventually collected after about a year-span of not pushing self too much that has now gone showing this rib cage __**again**__ only in a week-span_') . . . . . . . and everyone keep pointing at saru that saru is too thin...  
>well, duh... knew that already...!<p>

Bah...!  
>fearing that Oni-tan wouldn't make it to the deadline...<br>saru already made most of the work including hers, too... T.T talking about ironic...!  
>so when she started again, we only had 5 pages more to go... (aaawh, my life-fooorce...! come baaaack...!)<p>

and, the 10th March fell on Saturday, right?  
>saru thought while Oni-tan came back all-recharged and pumped-up, saru could take a couple days off getting drown in some too-sweet-milk-coffee and all that (<em>kualat<em>-asking as usual) things... and hand the comic on Monday. and somehow got too lazy making the last 2-pages without any reason...

on 10th March, around 4PM, our editor called... informing that the entry to the exhibition should be a 32-pages-oneshot only; which meant a work of 32-pages as part of a longer-pages of work WOULDN'T be accepted; which meant that our work of the first-two-chapters of originally 130-pages comic work was ABORTED.  
>-insert jaw-drop here-<br>and so he asked if we could alter it into a 32-pages oneshot instead.

and he said he's very sorry that he got the announcement via email just last night, that he'd got stressed by it too that he didn't go to work that day... and saru said it's alright, we're thankful for the opportunity instead and wouldn't want to miss it.  
>Right? (of course it is so.)<br>and after adding several balloons here and there on the finished pages... changing some dialogues a page or two... saru could get it down to 8 pages to be remade from scratch...plus an additional cover that was only so-so. (yaaaay! life-coffee-force!)

so the editor said he could manage it if we hand the work at least on 20th March, but as we're paranoid-monkeys, we tried finishing it as fast as we could and hand it on Friday the 16th.  
>saru was barely had an hour to sleep that day and was half-alive when we got to the office... and just couldn't really live it when the editor (and his colleagues) -seemed to- praise our work, and just stared the surrounding with a frozen half-grimacing smile with wide half-sleeping eyes like a <em>dakochan <em>(that was... an already extinct-type children toy of cheap rubber doll sold here before there were plastic dolls in the market)

...and there was this trial-printed pages of another comics lying there on the editor's table, and just so happened saru half-aware-ly took it and read, and it was a shounen-type of GREAT work made by one of the local comic-masters who was 'imported' from another city just to make that comic (with another bunch of some masters-gang, too), which was already listed for a launching after the MOVIE entered the local cinemas, which was (heard on the news later on) already bought by Hollywood to be...-oh, you know what should be the rest of that-  
>okay, so the <em>dakochan<em> thought 'what's so great about our work compared to that, now? it's just some comic-like drawings in pages made by some monkeys pretending to be some comic-illustrators; I don't even feel like we deserve the praises you guys gave for our work...bla bla bla'  
>Right?<br>-slap the negative-monkey-  
>(although it was loosely translated as 'can we go home now so I can have some sleep, please?' in <em>dakochan<em> language...)

hm? wait...  
>the exhibition starts on April... so... those-things should be on their walls now...<br>ha hah... -insert _dakochan_-smile here-  
>-hide to watch some anime-<p>

(for no reason saru had a weird dream today, that a colleague from the museum-gig about a year ago who's an illustrator from UK came visiting saru's house... which was highly-unlikely, ever. now that saru think of it... he was probably in the exhibition and saw those-things on their walls...?)  
>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . euhhhhh . . .<br>-insert _dakochan_ here-


	11. Chapter 11

**Another **** -10 march'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 11**

A flare.

Black.

A brighter flare.

Frowned.

A whole-bucket worth of thick liquid splashed on the face.

Now, that felt like a good enough reason to-...

"...shhh! Don't disturb him too much...!"

Two faces in the light above his...

"...I told you a bucket of puke or two should do it...!"

A pair of wide golden round eyes reflecting his frowning face like mirrors.

"-idiot! Don't say it out loud...!"

A thumping sound.

A surprised yelp of pain or fear.

...that's a good enough reason to give a murderous death-glare, alright! Odin leered treacherously.

"Co... Commander...! Don't wake up suddenly, you're still in need of some rest!" one of the soldiers tried with an uneven grin, but he was inching backwards with fear in his eyes.

"The Lieutenant is stirring...!" an almost victorious call stole their attentions from Odin; the two soldiers instantly scooted over to where their leader was lying on the ground, joining their two comrades who might have tried poking the Lieutenant to wake for some times.

That only left a pair of wide round eyes staring Odin openly with something akin to worry and curiosity. Odin frowned at the still dripping liquid from the side of the slender muzzle. He never dreamt there would be a day he would have to be puked at by the lizard to help him in emergency-

He tsk-ed and didn't finish his thought, it only annoyed him more.

"...what?" he grumbled, flexing his arms roughly to splash the thick liquid that was all over him.

Lix blinked once and stared him the same like before. There was something the lizard wanted to ask him, Odin thought, it just didn't know how-... no, he just didn't understand its language.

"...-... we dead?"

"No, Sir. But you sure gave us the creeps...!" Odin heard one of the four soldiers surrounding the Lieutenant said, almost childishly. They were the four bedridden soldiers, Odin realized with a deeper frown; the four who should be bedridden still and not be the ones most vigorously bouncing around and treated them like they were the ones neared death's door instead. The last thought earned a much deeper frown.

Looking around from his sitting place, he found he was on the single dirt road; not quite safe and sound by the looks of it, what's with the blue-black bruises on his skin, the bloody scrapes here and there already dried a blackish color.

"When we woke up this morning, the rest of you lied unmoving for gods know how long. We feared the worst when we couldn't wake you up at all...!" the eighth soldier that was supposed to be with the worst condition, by Odin's memory, said worriedly, bouncing his head with matter-of-factly nods and wide eyes; they glanced at Odin a couple times and at the other three soldiers beside Cail that were lying on the ground with Odin at the center.

That fact brought Odin instantly to his feet.

"Commander...!" one of the soldiers tried, "The others are alright, as far as we see..."

Odin wobbled a little but managed to keep his pride as he knelt beside the soldier lying nearest him and checked the man's condition. To his relief the others' conditions were just as said, they were conscious enough with only minor bruises and half-healed scrapes in various places left on their bodies; the only down side was that they seemed to be really exhausted. Nothing a good supplement-soup couldn't handle, though, he thought to himself, and just realized...

"Where is _he_?" he asked as he stood up all rigid and alarmed.

"He, who...?" one of the three soldiers asked back in alarm and incomprehension.

"The peasant!" Odin barked.

The four soldiers jumped in surprise and looked at each other with baffled expressions.

"...what peasant, Sir?" one of them braved himself to ask.

Odin stilled and looked around. They were on the single village road where old stones carved with what seemed to be spells of some sort were placed in intervals on either sides of it, just as he remembered it, the only thing missing was the village itself.

"Perhaps..." Cail started softly, sitting up; "...the village was supposed to be on _that side_ all along, Commander." pausing as he inspected cursorily on his surroundings; "...it's not supposed to be _here_...!"

The birds chirped lively on the trees pulled Odin's eyes to some trees where they tied their horses yesterday; next to the house of the peasant's sister... which was nowhere in sight; leaving a grassy clearing on the ground.

"You're saying we entered a door to another realm...?" Odin glared grudgingly at the grassy ground, the horses snorted feeling uneasy with the weight of his glare.

The soldiers silenced and looked at each other.

"...but you're the one leading us there, Sir."

Odin looked back at Cail; the Lieutenant's eyes told him that the younger man remembered what happened... perhaps only to some extent, as Odin saw some bafflement shaded Cail's eyes too. When he thought back, Lui was the one finding them -he and his demon- and the one led them to the village that night... perhaps the one he after was the demon; so Odin was only an extra, which explained why he was drugged to sleep that first time. But thinking that he eventually managed to keep the demon away from this mess gave him a sense of satisfaction; that for some reason the peasant changed his mind and left the demon alone.

"I did, didn't I...?" Odin's brows relaxed from the tight frown. His mood seemed to be suddenly turned significantly lighter. "What about the beasts at our backs?"

"Ah, we checked around before, to the end of this road, they didn't seem to be lingering there, Sir." One of the four soldiers reported with visible relief, pointing to the other end of that road.

"...and to think we sprawled on the ground unconscious the whole night with the beasts around...!" another one mumbled with uneasiness.

Odin snorted. "We'll camp here for now; restore our stamina before we head back to the Palace."

"We're not going to search for the young master?" Cail quipped half surprised. His men stared him half surprised by the proposition.

"How are we going to find him if neither of you prepared a rendezvous point, now?" Odin asked with annoyance, feeling satisfied when they averted their eyes from his with various levels of guilt. "If anything, my-demon should be heading back to the Palace..."

"You sure he wouldn't use this opportunity to run away?" Cail asked half reflexively, without even considering such doubt could earn him his Commander's wrath.

Betraying his subordinates' fears, Odin smirked confidently, as if enjoying the trust-game; "Ask the Lessard, there...!" he pointed with a flick of his head.

The said lizard was still eyeing Odin widely, from above Odin's head behind him. A wet gurgle and a heave later, Odin turned from smirking to fuming.

"LESSARD! What's _this_ for...?"

Lix turned its head to the sides, inspecting its work of a dripping fuming-Commander; its round eyes still wide and looked more and more perplexed. Lix walked circling Odin while clucking its bafflement. The treatment only fueled Odin's annoyance.

"WHAAAT?"

The lizard blinked rapidly and stared Odin face to face after it finished circling and stopped in front of the man.

"What?" Odin reined in his anger a little; "If you ask me, they look worse than me...!" he pointed the still exhausted looking soldiers on the grounds who huddled together on some point and were rigidly shaking their heads at the lizard. If not by fear, being puked at was still not something pleasant to be experienced, right?

Lix ignored the men and unusually put its muzzle on Odin's left shoulder, just like it did to fawn on its rider.

Odin silenced for a moment, a realization hit him; "...something with Heero?" he breathed to the lizard. Lix's tail swayed a couple times on the ground. Odin frowned in a different kind of alarm, glancing at his subordinates; now that the beasts were not on their tails, he could at least let the lizard to find his demon. "You want to find him...?"

To Odin's incomprehension, the long sleek tail swayed its negation, he was sure the lizard would grab any opportunity to leave them and find its rider at any moment.

Then Odin changed his mind. "You who could run and about, find things to eat and the herbs I'm going to tell you; the other set fire. We'll leave in an hour!"

"Whaaat...?" the soldiers objected collectively but they knew they couldn't say no to the order, not in such manner when the Commander looked like he was ready to fight a war.

* * *

><p>"...Heero...?" Duo tried, gently dabbing the wet handkerchief to the demon's visible parts of face, minding not to touch the feathers that were tightly sticking to the pale cheeks. The sight giving him the idea of how a dead demon would look like on his funeral; which he tried to chase away from his mind the whole time the demon didn't give him any reaction.<p>

He knew he didn't help in any kind, dabbing that wet cloth and all, but he didn't know anything else to do. He tried calling to the demon over and over gently, knowing he didn't want to make a ruckus and attracted his pursuers again; he was grateful his slip when the demon suddenly fell still before didn't resulted in the bad way... or maybe not yet?

Duo had taken the demon, who was surprisingly didn't weigh as much as he was supposed to judging by his looks, to some nook in an old tree's intermingling roots near their last spot; fixing his amulets on the barks to hide their-..._his_ signs of existence. He found a suitable enough spot for the demon to sit and recline, head lying back on his spare cloak used as pillow; his deathly-face facing up, while Duo stood beside him and could do nothing but worry his heart out.

After what felt like a couple hours had passed since the time the demon fell unconscious; Duo decided he should at least try something.

"Ancestors, please don't let this become a mistake..." he whispered, and closed his eyes; putting a hand palm-down on the demon's chest and one on the demon's head. He concentrated his mind's eyes to search in the darkness, blindly and tentatively; the first try he stopped when he felt he was about to plunge into an endless fall. Cursing under his breath as he fought to control his awareness, Duo took out a small candy from his bag and put it in his mouth. The sweet flavor should 'tie' his awareness to his mouth to some extent; then he tried again.

He should find his own core first, that idea popped out in his mind, guiding him to the innermost parts of his self; the blackness there was familiar and he felt he was not as blind like before. Then, spreading his awareness to the outer layers of his mind he tried to focus his concentration again to penetrate the demon's wards. Some tens minutes passed without anything; his small candy had long gone in his mouth, leaving only a faint aftertaste which couldn't be classified as sweet flavor anymore.

And suddenly; he felt a spark.

Gentle, but sharp at the same time.

Frowning and intrigued, Duo concentrated to that feeling.

Feeling...

Yes, it's a feeling from inside him, he realized. It wasn't from the demon's still body.

It wasn't...-

A warm tear slid down from his right eye; his core rippled with a sigh.

_Oh... _

_so, it's you... _there was a sudden relief crushing him from inside, trying to explode out of his core, swallowing him whole.

Duo opened his eyes slowly, making another tear rolled down from his other eye down his cheek. His head swayed a little, and he fell behind unconscious on the intertwining roots.

* * *

><p>The breeze was blowing gently, bringing the smells of various greeneries and the coolness of water. On the top of a pointy cliff stood a young man; stilled with eyes closed. The scenery around him resounding their voices and colors into his heart; he smiled longingly. The clouds rolled lazily in the sky above his head.<p>

* * *

><p>"Take a look at that, Commander...!" Cail pointed at a giant white tree, significantly protruding from the forest canopy, its white crown blown by the winds and looked like scattered white grains from their viewpoint.<p>

"I know. Just ignore it." Odin said levelly leading the men on horses. His steed snorted its indifference.

"But... it exists! We could see it...!" Cail objected; truth was he felt curious enough like a boy seeing a new toy in the store. He was not the type to leave things hanging.

"I bet you even if the whole Palace's soldiers are here and make this forest bald, no one is going to find that tree." the fifth soldier quipped in low voice, but everyone could hear him anyway. Before he fell unconscious in the obelisks clearing, he had a slight chance to witness the white tree growing from the creature's light, even while he was losing his consciousness.

Odin ignored the men talking about what happened with hushed voices and soon they followed his example and ignored the whole thing, or at least tried to. One of the soldiers at the back line held the rein of the young master's horse; behind them the lizard followed silently, all the while staring at Odin with wide anticipating eyes that it somehow made the man felt uneasy.

After some minutes passed, the men fell silent and Odin welcomed that quietness; his heart was filled with the concern about his demon and his mind already linked everyone on his opposing side to be the culprit of the ambush, especially the ones who secretly opposed The General; but knowing what kind of man The General was, he knew this ambush was expected, baited even. With a frown, Odin vowed to give The General a wallop if anything ever happened to his demon.

"_Scary. You're the type to hold grudge, aren't you, Commander?_"

A shift in the air behind him, and Odin had his sword swung slashing the source of the voice.

The men's horses neighed out their surprise and took some distance back.

A small black-dragonfly, slashed into two, liquefied onto the blade's surface, turning to black liquid which streaming up the blade defying gravity and formed its previous shape, floating above the glinting blade.

"_Heeheehee_..." the dragonfly let out a pleasant chuckle answering Odin's leering growl. "_I thought you'd want to ask me a few questions, while I intend to see to your belly-wound, Commander. I did promise you to give you something for the bleeding, didn't I?_"

"I see you don't have the courage to hand it face to face...!" Odin growled.

The dragonfly let out a longer chuckle.

"_I'm sorry... but I see you don't need it, anyway._"

Odin glared poisons to the proxy-creature, sheathing his sword, and straightened his body forward; continuing his ride.

The black-dragonfly floated to his side.

"_Don't you want to know what really happened back there...?_" the peasant's voice asked levelly.

Odin knew his men would like some explanation to ease their minds, but he's the type to finish what was in front of him first and after he's satisfied he'd go back to see to some grudge to be evened. Right now he minded about his demon and itching to hit The General waiting for his report in the Palace.

"_I know something about your demon that you wouldn't hear from him even if you ask him hundreds of ti-..._"

A pop. A splash. Another pop.

And in a flash the dragonfly was in Odin's water bottle.

He stared the bottle for a second, and then shook it hard, and inspected it. After finding nothing black's leaking from the cap, he was going to put it back to his saddlebag; snorted his indifferent satisfaction.

"_You're not very bright about this kind of thing, are you?_" the same voice asked with a tinge of amazement.

Odin stilled his hand and stared down at the bottle. Slowly a picture of the black-dragonfly became visible on its surface, after it turned fully black it liquefied back into its floating material shape.

"_This is not drawn by ink, Commander... don't you want to know what this black thing is?_" the voice asked when Odin continued his ride ignoring the dragonfly.

"_It's the same as that menacing cloud swirling around you right now..._"

Odin's steed snorted.

"_It's grudge._" the voice said with a closing tone.

Odin pulled his steed to stop and turned halfway as if blocking the way using his steed's body. "What do you want?" he asked flatly. His men followed him at some distance, not really wanting to be involved if anything broke out within that kind of air, but close enough to hear the conversation.

"_I want to thank-you for- ...you'd want to hear certain things about your demon which I'm going to tell you._" the peasant immediately changed the subject when Odin was about to turn forward again.

"I don't need to hear your stories again; I don't even know how much of them were true and how much were bullshits...!" His men knew when Odin started to use curses in his speech then they should let him be.

The peasant chuckled briefly. "_I am a witness-by-proxy; I know things I don't even care to find out, Commander._"

"Ha! 'Sucks to be you!" Odin scoffed.

"_And I know things about your demon's past. He wouldn't let anything pass his lips even if you torture him for years, you know..._" the peasant baited. Odin's eyes turned grim and his frowning face darkened at that.

"_...I know because I witnessed it happened. Didn't you intend to ask him about what happened before he was entrusted to you by The Palace?_"

"I'll ask him myself."

"_I'm telling you he won't answer to such questions..._"

"Then I won't hear it from anyone else's mouth-" Odin pulled his rein to move his steed.

"_You SHOULD know because he WILL destroy your kingdom!_" the peasant's voice held enough alarm in it.

* * *

><p>Duo stirred from a very pleasant slumber with some small uneasiness poking his mind endlessly. He moaned his objection and scrunched his face up, opening one eye a slit and waiting patiently for the blurry view to slowly focus to reveal...<p>

"HEEmph!"

The demon pushed him by the head to the roots back, while Duo's hands which stretched out in the middle of trying to give the demon a bear hug were now trying to pry the demon's hand from his face.

"Hmmm-mphh...!" his objection was muffled by the demon's palm. His eyes only saw a glimpse of the demon's face before his sight got covered too.

"What did you do?" the demon asked in alarm, and Duo stilled when the demon's hand pulled down to his mouth; he shook his negation after that, realizing the demon wouldn't let him speak for the time being, conveying his honesty into his eyes.

But a second later it wavered when he remembered he was -only- dabbing a wet cloth to the demon's face; surely that wasn't an offence, right? He stiffened at the thought, but when he looked closely now, he realized the demon's wings were still flattened onto his sides of face like before, and his eyes were somewhat unfocused.

"What did you do...?" the demon asked again, with a frown; but it seemed to take much effort as his head swayed backward and he looked like he was going to faint again.

Duo instantly grabbed the demon's hand from his mouth and pulled him to his front, guarding his body from falling using both hands around his back. The demon was weak enough when he tried to struggle free and failed miserably. "How many are outside...?" Duo breathed; and the demon stilled.

". . . many." he answered breathlessly.

Duo bit his lower lip, suppressing a tsk from coming out his mouth fearing his pursuers would hear it. Pausing while thinking some possibilities, he eventually asked; "...can you run?"

The demon took a long time to mull at the answer; Duo knew he wouldn't be able to run in his current condition. He had an option to leave the demon alone, knowing it was himself that was the target of the beasts; but he didn't know what was wrong with the demon and didn't want to leave him, too; not when he's so weak like this.

But he had to make a choice.

"Li...listen...!" he began, "I'll divert the beasts' attention from here. You stay and rest. I'll get back to you as soon as I lose them. Alright?" he made it sound like a promise.

The demon's quivering eyes stared at his for a moment. ". . . stay . . ." he whispered tiredly.

"Yes. You stay here-"

"Stay..." the demon repeated. Duo clamped his mouth when he realized the demon wasn't repeating his option, but asking him instead.

"Bu-... we can't..." Duo silenced when the demon's knees buckled and brought him together to slide down the roots in a heap.

"Heero..." he braved himself to ask, "...you're not alright, are you?"

The demon didn't answer.

* * *

><p>...what did he do?<p>

He let a spark out...! His mind admonished himself.

* * *

><p>Odin narrowed his eyes, frowning his warning, reflexively leering to show his fangs to the dragonfly.<p>

"_You think he wouldn't?_" the peasant asked again, with lighter tone that felt like testing Odin instead.

They both silenced for about 30 seconds, reading each other, or waiting for the other party to react. The men on their horses waited patiently, knowing they're about to witness something important, and perhaps forbidden for their level of ranks; something that most likely after this event passed Odin would tell them to forget about it ever happened.

"_You seemed to have that much faith in that demon._"

"And those words based on what, may I ask?"

The peasant and Odin said almost at the same time; the peasant sounded like he was genuinely amazed or relief, while Odin sounded like he tried the polite way to threaten the other.

The dragonfly let out a long amused chuckle again. Odin thought that must be 'Rudd' mostly overlapping with Lui.

"_So..._" the peasant started with a gentle tone, everyone could hear the smile in his voice; "..._do you care about him, or do you care about him being the Peace-contract?_"

Odin smirked, "How about you? What do you see of him; a dead-demon or a war tool?"

The peasant took a moment of pause.

"..._both._" he eventually said levelly; "_That's what he is; which I really don't feel very fond of that idea._"

Odin was about to say something, but swallowed it back when he heard the last part.

"_Your answer, Commander?_" the peasant demanded.

"Something told me you wouldn't let me say 'both' as an answer to your question." Odin criticized.

"_Then I shall change the question; do you care about him, or do you care about the Peace?_"

"And those are two different things?"

"_Yes. Those choices differentiate your action. If you choose him, you should set him free and sacrifice the Peace and that means sacrificing your Kingdom. If you choose the Peace, then you should sacrifice your fellow humans, or else your demon will destroy this Kingdom because of them._"

Odin frowned in dislike. "You seemed to like on insisting that part about him destroying this Kingdom!"

The peasant chuckled. "_Oh, please; don't tell me you Palace-people hadn't already realized it that whatever the demons sent to you is not impossible being a weapon capable to destroy your whole party in a mass destruction...!_"

Odin narrowed his eyes dangerously; "Heero is not a betrayer." he said flatly.

The peasant sighed out his boredom, "_Oh, so you care about him more than Peace._"

"He wouldn't betray the Peace that he's in charge of-" Odin snarled.

"_-because of what? Because it's his duty? You should ask him the real reason; the Demon Kingdom is the betrayer... the __**whole**__ of that Kingdom!_" the peasant sounded exasperated.

"His real reason?" Odin asked in perplexed, but the peasant cut him again.

"_He wouldn't be broken down. He wouldn't wither away. He will never betray his loyalty._" the peasant said hotly; "..._that's his vow; but you know what? The Demon Kingdom betrayed him first; they killed his whole family and eradicate his race. Ask him how he died in their prison...!_"

Odin was taken aback by the last words that he forgot to frown; the men showed their surprise too and they looked at each other with uneasiness.

". . . and you know this, how?" Odin asked levelly. "You witnessed all that by yourself?"

"_No._" the peasant lost his fire too.

Odin snorted and steered his steed to turn facing forward again.

"_My proxy-eyes didn't reach that older span of a past; but they saw the demons talking about those happenings as facts._"

"Huh...!" Odin snorted skeptically; "How long in past was that?"

"_I witnessed it from over a hundred years ago._" the peasant said with a closing tone.

"And you're old enough to do that?" Odin tested.

"_My predecessor had the same ability as mine-... no, I took after him; and so, I could see from his proxy-eyes he left anywhere too._"

Odin turned his face to the dragonfly again, giving a generic displeased expression.

"..._though that purging-incident happened about over a hundred and fifty years ago, if I count._" the peasant sounded tentative at the end; "_But are you sure you'd want to trust them with their truce, either way?"_

Odin looked somberly serious for a long moment.

"...I'll keep the Contract as long as it is worth keeping." he closed, and urged his steed to continue walking.

The dragonfly didn't conduct anymore words from the peasant, it just floated in the air on its spot watching Odin's back leaving it.

The men looked uncertain but they followed their Commander, watching the black-dragonfly as they passed it. No one spoke.

* * *

><p>The young man on the cliff-top opened his eyes slowly. There was sadness shading the color of his eyes, making them looked like a pair of inhuman eyes. He watched the greenery spreading under his standing-point with solemnity; wishing that he could be elsewhere and not alone.<p>

"...just tell them." 'Rudd' whispered soundlessly, using the young man's lips.

"For next time, I'll be the one talking...!" 'Row' hissed his warning.

The young man thinned his lips tightly, and closed his eyes again; looking like he was about to cry.

* * *

><p>"<em>My name is Luica Elts-Glay.<em>" the dragonfly said with loud enough voice to reach the retreating men on their horses.

"_Luica in Druid's language means 'heaven'. Druids-of-plants used it to call a place where they believed as heaven; a place that purify all sins and keep souls to live for eternity._"

Odin ignored it as he kept his steed moved forward steadily; some of the men looked behind but they still followed their Commander.

". . . _the same name to call that white-tree. It's a 'Heaven-tree'; a tree that purifies uncleanness and keeps souls to live forever._"

"_You've entered the place yourselves. Especially you, Commander; you've been purified. That's why any links corrupting you has been severed. That means the demon's links to you-_" the peasant's words stopped abruptly when Odin glared at the dragonfly, and it floated towards Odin knowing that the man wouldn't ignore him now.

The dragonfly let out a long sigh.

"_That white worm-like creature you saw in the array was... a seed. The Heaven-tree seed..._" the peasant began. Odin didn't seem like he was interested; the others turned all ears at that explanation.

"_The...-_", a long sigh again; it seemed it took a lot of effort for the peasant to put his knowledge into words.

"_The wounded Magan-Glay's child..._" he continued; "_Despite having saved by Magan-Glay's beasts... was still hunted, even after the King died. So the beasts took the child to a druid village to hide._"

"_So, the Druids-of-plants managed to cure the child's severe wound, but the child left the druid village regardless of the druids' offer for safety, and sought shelter in the Covenant of Mothers instead ...Why?_"

The men showed various level of realization, especially the ones who'd heard the peasant's story about the creation of the Maggart. ". . . The Maggart was still around!" Cail said with alarm.

"_Not quite..._" the peasant sounded like he tried to chuckle but failed into a cynical snorted; "_More like, for having part of the father's soul, the Maggart hunted the child down, wanting to own, to sate its hunger to love..._" the peasant paused for a brief moment; "_The child was hunted by the father's love... that was not what a Heaven-tree could protect from._"

"_When the child turned adult, there was a girl druid, one of the young generations of the Druid-of-plants, who was about the child's age, and proposed an odious way to keep the Maggart at bay._"

"They married?" Odin eventually spoke up, though sounded disinterested, beating his men from commenting first.

"_Yes._" the peasant sounded somewhat ashamed; "_She feared that when Maggan-Glay's child died in the Covenant without bearing any descendant, the Maggan-Glay's soul inside the Maggart, would go berserk for his missing child and brought catastrophe on this world. That's why she came up with an idea to keep the bloodline to be the Maggart's target, but at a safe distance...!_"

No one commented after that, wanting to hear more, wondering what kind of a way they'd do if they were in the same situation but failing miserably for they didn't have enough requirement for such.

"They sacrificed their child to the Maggart?" Odin quipped flatly.

The peasant chuckled, "_Close._" he took a deep breath and continued; "_The Druid put a blessing in her bloodline; that every first child of their descendants' would be a girl, who will be the other-child's protector. So there's always two children in every generation; the first would be a daughter, the Druid's descendant; the younger child would be a boy, Maggan-Glay's descendant. And they sacrificed the daughter into the Heaven-tree, so that when a Maggart was close enough to the other child carrying Maggan-Glay's curse, the daughters could keep the Maggart away... at least until the next curse-carrying child born._"

At mostly baffled faces, the peasant chuckled merrily, genuinely finding the reaction funny. "_That worm-like creature was a seed that only had one purpose of existence; which was to __**eat**__._"

There were collective gasps and paled faces, and the peasant seemed to actually enjoy it for once.

"So that Maggart is contained until you have a boy?" Odin asked with disinterested concluding tone.

"_Yes._"

"So it didn't have anything to do with Darque and Roude's war?" Odin asked again.

". _. . their soldiers..._" the peasant said carefully, not wanting to let his hatred showed too much; "..._once every ten years the gate to the daughters- ...sisters' realm is opened. So I could see them... because the heaven-tree seed converted physical substance to pass through the gate to that realm._"

"_My sister was 9 years old when I turned 5; the exact age when my cursed blood ignited, when I started having abilities from my bloodline._" the peasant paused to swallow a bitter memory. "_One day my father took her away, just before my fifth birthday; and he returned alone. My mother knew what happened; but she couldn't let go... she never spoke again till the day she died. My father left to serve the Darque Lord -before he split the land into two- and never came home again, even when my mother died of illness four years after._"

He sighed, "_I learned about the realm's opening from his fellow soldier; that my father used to tell stories about a village of Druids-of-plants which only open once in a decade, and that the druids would heal everyone in need, because they are the healers of all ages..._" there was a tinge of melancholy in his tone, but it soon disappeared.

"_His fellow soldier told me that when he informed me about my father's death in the war of Darque and Roude. But that was something he chose..._"

"_What I couldn't forgive was..._" the peasant's voice started to sound angry, "_The soldiers looked for that village with thoughts that they could find valuable druid's things. They're wounded and my __**sisters**__ helped them and they plundered the village..._"

"So you did arrive too late." Odin stated, referring to the conversation they had in the night they're treated in the peasant's house.

"_Yes, I was too late; the barrier was already broken and the Maggart found the leak and swallowed some of my sisters... and that's why you could enter the village without being converted or in the verge of death._"

"So what does it have to do with my demon?" Odin scoffed.

"_When my turn comes, I wouldn't want to feed my daughter to that creature!_" the peasant said with certainty that his voice trembled slightly.

"_If your demon could end it in my generation, even if I have to sacrifice myself, I'd finish it. Right now, I couldn't die freely because I have to carry the curse of that Maggart, and if I let myself die without a descendant to carry it, and let the Maggart run rampage and caused a catastrophe... then I'd be betraying my sisters' sacrifices!_"

"_I WANT TO END IT...!_" the peasant yelled in anguish.

The horses snorted in discomfort, while Odin didn't show any emotion.

"...my demon?" Odin repeated slowly.

The peasant took several breath spans before he answered in a low snarl-reining voice, ". . . _he's in the same kind of situation, so I want him to have his freedom. Preferably causing harm to your Kingdom in the process, too...!_" he chuckled conspiratorially when admitting the last part.

"_What I'm saying is..._" he continued with a more reasonable tone, seemingly a little remorseful that he slipped and let 'Row' overlapping his self. "_If the Contract is inevitable to be breached, which I think the demons party only used this truce to reinforce their army, and that your party is not wholly think that they want to have a real peace with the demons; if any option will still leads to war... why don't you keep that demon out of this mess? ...because he will be sacrificed anyway, either by your party or by the demons party._"

Odin stared the dragonfly levelly, his face unreadable. His men would surely think that he will do something for the demon first, because they had often witnessed how much Odin was being possessive of that demon. Some people often said that he was being possessed by that demon, that the demon drove him insane, and used him to infiltrate the Kingdom. The men didn't know which were true, and they didn't really interested in power struggle; but they obviously needed to have a good faith in their leader, so they wanted to know Odin's reasons... whether he was really blinded by that demon like what the rumors said or not.

Odin smirked at the dragonfly, like he was hearing something ridiculous. "That..." he said slowly with a low voice almost growling it out; "...is not of your concern!"

And with a swift jerk he urged his steed to move again, faster, almost as if he wanted to run away... perhaps forgetting that he ever heard such facts about his demon.

The peasant was not satisfied with only that.

"_Do you know that you have a Demon's-touch in your blood, Commander?_" he called out, and the dragonfly followed between the riding men behind Odin.

"_It's something you've been denying since you were young, right? That your blood had a demon's power in it; perhaps you or your ancestor had lived with them for one time... of which, I couldn't really know; but you knew...!_"

Odin spurred his steed that it started to canter, slowly leaving his men and the disconcerting dragonfly.

"_I_ _said you've been purified...!_" the peasant called out again, "_Right now your demon has no link to support him. And for thinking that he chose you by conditional chance is your mistake, Commander. He chose you because you have that Demon's-touch in your blood; the only human in the Palace that can support him is you. If not he's going to cease to exist! I'm sure he's waning right now-...!_"

A fast scraping metal noise, and Odin's sword was out of its scabbard once again, his steed neighed as it pulled to stop suddenly, standing on its hind legs half turning to face the dragonfly... but the sword was aimed to a point in the vast forest where rock cliffs protruding from the canopy at a very far away distance from them.

The young man on the cliff opened his eyes a little, amazed at the glinting light from the shiny blade visible from his standpoint. A smile touched his lips.

"_You could see me_..." he whispered through the dragonfly, _"..., couldn't you, Commander?_" an amused question.

A light chuckle.

"_My father was afraid of you; or your blood._.." he arched one shoulder, although the other party wouldn't see it. "_He used to warn me about 'Odin the man-hunter'. He was afraid if the Kingdom would send you to hunt him... You see..._" he chuckled again; "..._being a Magan-Glay's descendants we're very paranoid about King's desires...!_"

Odin glared deaths to the point where seemingly the peasant was standing on the far distance. "I've warned you about my-demon...!" he hissed his warning.

"_So, what?_" the peasant sounded bolder, "_If the demons learn that your-demon was harmed, they would take it that your party wants to breach the Peace-contract. But if you have a good intention and let him free, the Demon Kingdom would still take it as a breach of the Contract, and will result in a war. Like I said; if every option would still be resulted in the same outcome, why don't you pick one?_"

"_No._" the peasant corrected himself; "..._I want you to choose!_"

"_If you still waste him like this, I'll use him for my own predicament...!_" he threatened.

Odin gritted his teeth, snarling at the dragonfly.

"_Why don't you say it?_" the peasant challenged, "_Say that you're not wasting him. Say that your party wants this Peace, too?_"

"_You can't, right?_" the peasant decided the answer, "_Because you know that human hearts cannot be trusted; that you have treacherous hearts no matter how righteous you are!_"

The steed felt Odin's anger and started to jerk and jolt.

"_That demon will never betray his loyalty; that's why he will destroy your Kingdom, because you will betray his Peace!_"

"I KNOW THAT ALREADY...!" Odin's voice boomed and echoed in the forest, jerking the men and their horses and the birds that flew away from the trees.

"I knew that!" Odin hissed, "You don't have to tell me his reasons. I already know he's sacrificing himself for something he's not obliged for! But that's NOT of _your_ concern! If you keep insisting to use him, than I will hunt you down no matter if that _dirty wind-bag_ of a Maggart's going to get berserk for not finding his _little-toy_ anywhere anymore...!"

The men silenced and sweated, they could see how much Odin was at a lost; they just thought that they should be grateful for not having such predicament as Odin or that peasant. Having a trivial life and trivial meaning wasn't so bad, after all.

The peasant silenced for a long pause, probably watching Odin fighting to gain back his coolness.

". _. . ummm-_" he started hesitantly, almost apologetically.

"_. . . . . . you're just as indecisive as I thought that such a thing is impossible for you, aren't you._" he stated slowly.

"Don't drag me or my men or my demon into making decisions for you, you insane peasant...!" Odin growled.

"_Hmm..._"

"_You're saying you're just as lost as me...?_" the peasant asked again. "_Then what should I do if you couldn't decide what I should do?_" that sounded almost too childish.

"Shut up and go back into your hiding hole! At least my demon decided to face forward; at last, I wouldn't care if he'd decide to level this Kingdom eventually or not, because he'd paid for it!" Odin barked seriously and sheathed his sword back with a snort and steered his steed galloping down the mountain road, leaving the black-dragonfly floating in its silence not giving away any feeling its Shepherd felt at that moment.

* * *

><p>After about two hours of fast ride, Odin took his men to a stop on a clearing, resting their horses. The darkened stones of fort that was Eretta stood gloomily in the far greens of the forest under the mountains; if they keep their pace they'd reach the Palace by tomorrow night.<p>

Odin stared at Lix drinking from the small stream keeping its distance from the horses; he waited for the lizard to finish, somehow knowing that it's keeping its eyes on him.

When Lix was going back to where the men rested, it found Odin giving it the stare with his soldier-pout, saying nothing. Lix stared him back, clucking nothing.

After a few minutes passed, Odin eventually spoke up; sighing heavily first. "Is that why you puked at me a whole lot, Lessard?"

Lix blinked.

"You know that his links to me are severed, and you tried to build them up again but couldn't; so you didn't want to leave me to find him because you wouldn't want to lose me from your sight? You thought I'd run away or something...?"

Lix let out a raspy long purr and a low lizard-cry, which almost sounded in human language as 'hmmmmm- ...oh, well...'

Then they both let a che in their own sounds, and walked away. Lix went to find a place to curled while still be able to watch the humans; Odin went to sit with his men and had lunch.

"Forget about what you heard; you wouldn't want your name to be in some assassin's list." Odin said flatly. His men looked at him half surprised, mostly at the last part, and gave him their obedient answers.

They ate in silence; the atmosphere was somewhat cold so no one dared to break the quietness and just concentrating to eat. Odin finished first, he threw a stare at the lizard still watching him closely; at least he took a positive view and thought that if the Lessard was keeping him close that meant his demon should be coming to his side again. He cursed to some severed links under his breath and growled out his frustration.

"Listen...!" he spoke up rather sternly, gaining all attentions from his men; "When you got back to the Palace, don't try to be righteous and thought you could be friendly with the demon just because you felt for him." Some of his men choked on their food with a caught expression.

". . . he doesn't like to endure pestering humans." Odin said as if that was the answer to every question about demons.

Lix let out a lizard-moan of agreeing on its spot, watching the humans lazily.

* * *

><p>The young man was still standing unmoving on the cliff-top. His awareness was watching a faraway place.<p>

"...if you couldn't decide..." his lips breathed gently. "Wouldn't it be okay if _I_ take over? _I_ won't let your sisters be wasted..."

The young man stared down at his hands, face devoid of all emotions.

"You won't have to dirty your hands..." he breathed again.

"The end is inevitable..."

* * *

><p><em>saru's note:<br>next chapter should be mostly of Heero's trip (and Duo); ' thought you'd be waiting for that... right?  
>didn't mean to make OdinLui's part this long, but it's done... hehehe_


	12. Chapter 12

**Another **** -6 june'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 12**

'_Are you happy?' the pale white hand stroking the underside of the small muzzle paused for a moment._

_The lizard-hatchling squeaked a small high-pitched sound, its wide round eyes were conveying utter bliss it felt for just the fact that it was allowed to tag along... even if it would become a burden._

_A small yielding smile tugged at the ends of the pale lips. 'Then...'_

'_...I will never abandon you...'_

Lix woke up with a jerk, its head reflexively turned to the sides as if searching something... or someone. Perhaps the source of that lingering voice; it frowned when it realized that that was just a memory resurfacing its mind. Staring at the grassy ground under its bent front-legs, it decided that it didn't need that much of sleep anyway; walking silently to the river bank after giving a cursorily glance on the humans party and their horses and found nothing worth inspecting, the lizard took a seat on a big enough stone on the bank, which dark surface was smoothened by the water. The glassy-materials in the stone glinted in the moonlight like a compact starry-sky in its own glory.

"Couldn't sleep?" A deep voice asked the lizard from the dark shade of a tree.

The endless sound of running water seemed to have summoned them, as if promising to wash away all worries from their restless minds.

A man, a lizard; one person in minds...

Lix stared at the almost-frowning Odin staring it levelly; some darken thoughts were shading the man's eyes. The lizard blinked at him. It didn't worry about its rider's whereabouts, nor of his safety; what bothering it was his past. The demon's past would chase him sooner or later; the Shepherd's words today reminded the lizard about that fact. When that time comes, or before it come... it'd be easy to just flee its rider to somewhere unknown to everyone; but its rider wouldn't agree to that.

_Where does your loyalty lie? Does loyalty give servants the rights to chose what's best for their masters?_ The round golden eyes asked without a sound.

Odin stared at the lizard eyeing him closely, he was sure the lizard had human-like intelligence but he still didn't understand its language.

"If you couldn't rest with us, you could just go find your rider." Odin stated his permission.

"It's not like we're in dire need of protection, either...!" he growled low voicing his displeasure.

Lix blinked at the man staring down at the river surface. The man must have suspected that the demon severed their links to protect him from pursuers, if it was the demon that was being targeted; and so the man thought of it as a type of insult to his competence as the benefactor.

The lizard let out a lizard-snort and inched toward the man's feet and rested there, beside the man who was resting his back on the tree; the end of its muzzle touching the river surface and it welcomed the gentle current as if it was caressing its skin.

"What are you so gloomy about? It felt weird that you're fawning on me; it's uncomfortable, Lesard...!" Odin growled. Lix let out a lizard-chuckle and closed its eyes; knowing sleep wouldn't come to it, so it put its senses to discern everything around the humans-party. Time flowed and it'd be a waste if the lizard didn't do anything even in wait.

Odin snorted at the lizard; he was trying to rein in his impatience as well. Looking back to his men who was lying dead-like in their merciful sleep, he felt a tinge of guilt for acting a bit childish for pushing them in such a haste to reach the Palace in their current condition, emergency aside; realizing that even if he could get to the Palace as fast as possible wouldn't mean that his demon would be already waiting there for him. No, most likely he wouldn't be there anytime soon.

He tsk-ed and cast a pebble into the river, hoping his frustration could be castdis away as easily as that too.

* * *

><p>"Oh... you're awake..." Duo breathed with relief.<p>

". . . I'm sorry... are you comfortable enough?" and asked in a subdued tone.

Heero's eyes were unseeing, the color of his irises were so light it was almost silver. He struggled to frown and show his displeasure, and Duo knew that the demon realized their arrangement.

"...ummm..." he tried to sound apologetic, "There's no enough space for you to lie down, so...-" he faltered.

"...anyway, the beasts are still lingering outside; perhaps they thought to guard the place where they found our traces last..." his mind gave a full agreement to his justification.

Duo silenced for a long pause, pretending he didn't realize that his heartbeat had taken a few notches faster.

"Yo-... You asked me to stay..." his words finally broke with a quiver. _-Well he did ask you to stay, but most likely didn't mean that you could stay hugging him the whole time...!_ His other-mind jeered with a cynical chuckle; Duo shut it with a hard swallow.

"Sorry..." he breathed with guilt; "I'll let you recline by yourself and I'll keep my hands away-..."

". . . sash...!"

Duo blinked and paused, thinking his ears doing some trick to his own mind that the demon was speaking.

"...sash... left side..."

And he heard it again.

"Oh!" Duo almost jumped at the realization that the demon told him to search for something in the demon's sash. "So- sorry for the intrusion...!" his voice quivered again, and he hoped the demon didn't realize that it was quivered with excitement for the fact that he was allowed to touch-...

His mind stopped midway in its excitement.

He frowned as he dangled the things he found in the demon's sash in front of his face in that dark place.

". . . th- . . ." he tried to find the connection between his eyes and mind and voice, "...this is..."

The things jangled a nice clear sound.

"This is... " Duo tried to suspect something about the function of the dangling piece(s) of metal in his hand and his mind found a conclusion; "...a... wire-puzzle...?"

It was more like a handicraft-work of ...he couldn't actually say it was a nail-puzzle with such beauty; the thing dangled from his fingers worth to be called jewelry. It was made from a kind of silvery metal, twisted and crafted in such fashion that the wire itself had tiny detailed carvings on it; and at some point the wire was clear like glass or crystal, with speckles of small lights in it that changed colors depending on the light outside. And the shape was intricate enough to mimic a pair of wings, entwined in the middle by the outermost wires circling around each other. And he didn't see any opening in the wing-shape, so that thing couldn't be a puzzle if it couldn't come lose right?

"A-..." his brows arched, "...a pretty pin...!" he continued with a hoping victorious tone.

". . . wings . . ." the demon breathed almost soundlessly.

"What...?" Duo asked in bafflement.

"...your hands..." the demon's head lulled down onto his shoulder; ". . . off mine . . .-".

Duo's face paled and flushed in the same instant, eyes wide with shock and shame; Heero's last words before he lost consciousness again was ever more shocking than if he were suddenly punched in the face.

"I-...!" he struggled to control his voice volume, "I didn't hold you for...-!"

So the demon thought that he was still _that_ inclined to do something to his wings...? Duo's face got redder with the thought; and in such condition, it's as if he was accused to being a pervert to a helpless person.

Duo stopped abruptly when he bit his tongue in his surprise; realizing that his words wouldn't do anything to justify his actions in the demon's perspective if he'd already labeled to have a too-busy-hands at that rate. So he was told to busy his hands with that pair-of-wings instead; his heart that was almost leaping out of his mouth fell into his stomach... it'd be good if he could digest it too rather than having it feel pierced by needles like now. The demon might be just being in his defense-mode in his helpless condition; Duo knew that. He might be worried about Duo being a human too; that one fact he couldn't blame anyone. But having his offered hand rejected with such accusation hurt him even when he understood the reason for it.

Or perhaps it's just as the demon thought of him, he had too-busy hands he should just keep it to himself.

"Sorry..." he said with disheartened tone, eventhough he knew the demon was already out of it to hear him, "...human touch must be disgusting for you..." covering the demon's head with the spare cloak he had around the demon's body and lowered it carefully; a hand behind the demon's head supporting it onto the roots surface. "I won't touch you aga-..."

He stopped mid-sentenced when he felt a tug on his waist. Looking down, he realized it was the demon's hand gripping at his shirt, and tightly too for such condition he was in that Duo couldn't tug it lose; was it that the demon had been gripping it the whole time when he didn't realize it? It's probably since that time when the demon asked him to stay too...

Duo felt a tinge of anger when he thought about what the demon thought about him; he did stay with the demon just as he was asked, and he might have gone ahead of himself keeping the demon in his embrace but that was for the demon's sake too since it had turned cold with the night coming and the tree roots were not as comfortable to recline on, and what he got in return was an accusation of being a perv- ...

Or maybe the demon was worried about him touching his wings accidentally? Duo's calmer mind took over at that instant. Heero did say that he will die if he touched a demon's wings.

Loosening Heero's grip gently, relieved when the stiff fingers yielded; he arranged Heero's body in a position he thought comfortable enough in that small space; staring apologetically at the sleeping face that didn't show any feeling of discontentment nor bliss.

"So..." he dangled the wire-puzzle in front of his face again; "What did you want me do with this, exactly...?"

* * *

><p>"Ouw-waaaaaahhhhh...!" that was a yawn wide enough to swallow his own fist... Duo rubbed his sleepy eyes tiredly; on top of being forced to squat or stand on the uneven ground between the roots all night, he barely had any sleep at all... although the later was probably because he was forcing himself to de-puzzle the wire-puzzle in his hands. As much as the things intrigued him, or the fact that it was seemingly something important to the demon that was entrusted to him, but he concluded that there was no possibility to take off the wings from each other.<p>

It's just impossible...!

Definitely...!

Absolutely impossible...!

And that conclusion achieved after he meddled with the things for... roughly 8 hours...?

So, it either he had too-busy-hands or too-inept-brain. "Damn...! What are these, anyway... wake up for a moment, it's not fair, Heero, I'm sleepy too...!"

Duo yawned again so wide that his jaws hurt and his eyes teary. With a little frustration he wiped them and thought he should at least look outside if the beasts were still in the area. The mosses were dangling at the opening of the roots like ragged window curtains. He took a peek outside, setting the covering moss aside, and was petrified as he found the beasts from last night circling their tree in rows, blissfully sleeping.

It took him a full minute to eventually dare himself to move.

Slowly and warily he pulled himself backward into the shelter behind the dangling mosses again; and as his body bent forward, he bumped his hand onto the root walls for there was barely enough room, and he dropped the wire-wings from his almost numb grip. The pretty wings bounced on the root before they fell on the mossy ground, making some pretty tinkling sounds.

Duo froze shutting his eyes as tightly as he could... fearing the worst.

The sleeping beasts jerked together.

A silent pause lasted for several second before Duo realized the beasts snores were definitely gotten louder. He fearfully opened his eyes slowly, and stared intently at the circling beasts.

"H- ...ha...?" he grinned disbelievingly with a sweat-drop. Carefully picking up the fallen wire-wings, he 'accidentally' jangled them mid-way, and the beasts shivered with apparently blissful dreams judging from their expression, like grinning lion-like beasts or smiling bird-like ones... some of them even drooling with silly faces.

"E- ...ehhh?" Duo exclaimed wide-eyed; and covered his mouth abruptly when the beasts jerked again.

Spinning on his heels, he managed to turn his body adequately facing the sleeping demon and cried out his frustration in angered whisper; "You could have told me so from the beginningggg...!" But of course the demon was still blissfully unconscious.

Wiping his frustration tears, he decided that he should get out of the circle immediately... before the beasts wake up because they _definitely_ had _enough_ sleep...! Covering the demon wrapped in his spare cloak with his own cloak as he carried him on his back, Duo thought he should at least find a means of transportation because even as light as he was they were just visible in that way.

"Must find a village...!"

"Alright..."

"A village is fine...!" he whispered to himself over and over, fighting his exhaustion as they left the circling beasts way behind them.

The sun had set high enough when he smelled the scent of burning furnace and some cooking in the air, though there was still no house visible from his position. Duo brightened and immediately searching a secluded place to hide the still sleeping demon. Loosening his two braids to below his shoulders line, he put some color from a small bottle from his pocket onto his lips, and arranged his bangs so that it was divided in the middle and pinned beside his temples.

With light steps he hurried to follow that human scents and almost running as he found a dirt road leading him to a village.

"Sir, do you know where I could buy a cart? A small one would be fine, just as long as it could carry two people. Oh, with the horse too, of course...!"

The elderly man sitting in front of the first house he found was only managed to gape at him when Duo asked him enthusiastically while trying to catch his breath. He pointed down the road further without a word.

"What is it, Papa; is someone there?" a middle aged woman came out from the house as Duo half ran leaving that house; he stopped abruptly on the road and bowed a little.

"Oh, I'm sorry... There's just... a cart... I'm buying, thank-you for the pointing...!" he smiled and continued running.

The village was small enough, but the distance between houses was enough to make him grumbled when no one was around; after he got to the denser housing area, he searched for a market-like place and found himself in the middle of the village.

...and everyone seemed to be looking at him.

"Cart-cart-cart...!" he chanted to himself looking for a house with carts outside, he found a promising one though it looked to be a tavern instead of a cart stall.

"Excuse me, Sir, I'm looking for a cart to buy. A small one is fine, at least for two people. With a horse; please...!" he said fast to the tavern owner at the bar table.

The people in the tavern were staring at him and his emergency-looking smile.

"Ow, Little Miss, please sit down first. Would you like a drink?" the owner said while putting a large mug of bubbly drink on the table for the man sitting there.

"No, Sir, I need a cart-..." but Duo pulled the mug and downed the content in large gulps and banged the empty wooden mug back to table, with a loud exhale; "-...it's spirit, in the morning...?" he asked accusingly at the gaping man at the bar.

"It's noon-" the man said reflexively.

"Spirit is for night-time after working hard...!" Duo said reflexively while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I'm a night-watcher; I'm just going to sl-"

"Okay, sorry for that, Sir, -a cart for two people, with a horse, please?" Duo turned his head to the owner again in the middle of the sentence.

The owner blinked his mind back.

"You need a cart for two people and a horse...?" he asked slowly.

"No, no..." Duo waved his hand in negation, "I need a cart and a horse for two people..., Sir." he added with a grin.

"You'll be traveling on cart and on horse...?" the man at the bar asked still half-gaping.

"No, no..." he waved his hand again, "A cart pulled by a horse, for two people...!" Duo added with rapid blinking at the end, wondering if there was something not understandable in his demand.

"Two carts and two horses...?" the owner asked in bafflement.

"No, no...!" he waved his hand again faster; "a cart and-...!"

"BWAAHAHAHAHAHAAA- ...!" and the tavern suddenly exploded with guffaws and catcalls and banging mugs.

"Slow down, Missy; the cart won't be going anywhere without the horse...!" a rough looking one-eyed man shouted merrily from the table near them.

"O- ...ehhh..." Duo flustered as the people in the tavern laughed and clapping at him. He bowed repeatedly turning redder as the cheering didn't seem to lessen. "I'm... I'm sorry for the intrusion; it's just that..." he fixed the hood covering his face up as he straightened; "I left my friend in the woods outside this-"

"You left your friend alone in the forest?" came the surprised yell from the people in unison. Some burly men suddenly got to their feet with serious faces and Duo realized they had commonly hunter equipments under their tables.

"Uwaah-no, no; I'm from here...!" Duo half-panic flipped open the lining in front of his hood that was folded behind, exposing the embroidery on it. The room fell silent for a moment, and Duo thought that there's no way they wouldn't recognize it as he stilled with face down showing the hood at everyone.

"Wahh... So, you're from the Covenant...?" the owner sighed with half surprised relief.

"What's a Mother doing in this part of kingdom...?" the burly men sat down again; and Duo sighed with relief.

"No, Sir... I'm not a Mother; just an apprentice...!" Duo waved his hand with a shy blush.

"Are you selling charms, then?" the owner smiled excitedly.

Duo sweat-dropped; "Umm... not quite selling, buuut..." he searched inside his bag and pulled out a velvet pouch. "I'd trade some for the cart and horse...?" he added hopefully; he had money that his cousin gave him but it's not that much to buy a horse cart, since he didn't expect he'd need one.

"Though, my skills are not yet enough to make fine charms..." Duo said with timid voice as the people gathered to the bar. He fidgeted while waiting as the men examined the charms he spread on a piece of velvet cloth on the table. Nobody made a sound, and he was thinking that his charms were actually looking faulty for roughen villagers and hunters.

Duo cleared his throat. "So, if they're not good-..."

"MISS...!" the men turned at Duo together. "These are practically jewelries...!" the owner said loudly.

"Eh? They are? I'm sorry; I never sell my charms before...!" Duo reflexively said, genuinely surprised that his charms worth to be called jewelries.

"Whoaaa... look at those gemstones, Dear...!" the owner's wife suddenly appeared beside the man.

"These are blue-shade silver, right? Aren't they rare...?" one of the burly men asked in amazement.

"These jewelries are fitted with charms, Honey? Aren't they too expensive to be sold in this kind of village? You should go to the town...!" the motherly-looking woman waved at Duo.

Duo's grin pulled to one end, "Ahh... no, they're charms! I just tried to make them look nicer...!"

"Really?" the gathered people looked back at the charms again.

"They're jewelry-charms...!" the villagers concluded confidently.

"Ummm... okay." Duo yielded, whatever getting him the cart and horse, he thought; Heero was in no condition to travel on his own feet. "So could I trade some for that cart and horse, then?"

"Honey, these are too expensive for roughen villagers like us...!" the owner's wife said apologetically; the men nodded with sweat-drops, they visibly didn't want their wives to see those charms for they wouldn't be able to afford them.

"No, I'm not selling them; these charms couldn't be traded with money, their merits would fade away that way. So I'm bartering some...!" Duo corrected making desperate face.

"But this village has no cart worthy for such a trade, Miss...!" the man at the bar earlier quipped.

"But, Sir; charms merit lies in their needed-value not their worldly worth... so I'm trading them for anything I could get, right now..." Duo tried.

"We can't rob you like that, Honey...!" the owner's wife said disagreeably, earning nods from the men.

_Oh, please... I'm really __**in need**__ for that cart and just one horse...!_ Duo's mind complained.

"I heard you have a friend waiting in the forest, Honey?" the owner's wife asked; Duo nodded. "How about this; I'll take the smallest charm and give you an antler wagon and pay these hunters to safe-guard your travel; you can just drop them in the next city or such. That way everybody is happy, how's that?"

The burly men nodded vigorously.

"See? They're just as happy to help you...!" the owner's wife chuckled.

Duo froze. _No! That's just unbidden meddling, Ma'am...!_ His mind objected. Burly broke-looking hunters and an unconscious demon were just not meant to be in the same closed-walls wagon. Definitely a no-no!

. . . though an antler is faster than a horse... but hunters...-

"How about an antler coach for two people...?" Duo tried brightly. The people there seemed surprised at how Duo kept insisting the two-people part.

"You seemed to be in hurry, Honey..."

"That's right, the hunters could go on their horses so the wagon could be less slow carrying too many passengers...!" the owner brightened.

_NOOOOO! That's even worse if those hunters could chase down our cart on their horses, old maaaannnn...!_ Duo's mind cried exasperatedly in his head, while on the outside he only stilled a petrified smile.

"Miss Apprentice, your friend waiting in the woods..." a calm female voice broke the tension, "...wouldn't be a Silens, would she?"

Duo snapped his head to where the voice came from, a female traveler sat on the far corner facing a window, was smiling at him. "Silens are not allowed to make interaction with people outside the Covenant, isn't that right? That's why she didn't come with you into this village?"

At that Duo nodded vigorously; it's not quite a lie, he thought... those were not his words, so he's not lying...! He took a fast glance at the charms spread on the table, between them was an average looking charm that was for detecting lies; he thought he didn't need it so he didn't alter its basic form from the usual. People would recognize that form soon enough; the gemstone on it should change color when someone lies in its vicinity.

_And..._ Duo looked away from the table...

_It's changing color now...!_

"Your friend is a Silens? Why didn't you say so from the beginning...!" the owner's wife smiled.

"I'm sorry..." Duo fidgeted and tried looking uncomfortable to drag people's attention from the table.

"Is there an urgent matter?" the female traveler asked again; "Silens wouldn't come out of the Covenant unless there's something disastrous happening somewhere...!"

_Oh yeah... thanks for alerting these roughen villagers; the only disastrous thing is that the Palace Demon is here lying unconscious in the forest while being chased by beasts and to add to the carnival you want me to escort some hunters to safe-guard him to a definitely almost-gone-berserk-notorious-Commander waiting in the Palace...!_ Duo was almost tempted to cry that out loud. That uncomfortable-looking effort seemed to backfire now...

The gemstone on that particular charm slowly turned back to its original color, Duo noticed; perhaps it sensed his thought as truth... _But isn't that just making matters worse? So the Commander is really almost gone berserk waiting in the Palace as of now...?_ His mind complained; he'd heard lots of 'lessons learned' about a certain Commander from the soldiers escorting him the past days he was with them.

"Where are you heading? I might go to the same direction and give you a lift...?" the female traveler stood up.

"Ah- no... that's-" Duo's hand was too numb to wave so he just lifted it near his face; it kind of actually looking like an agreeing gesture instead of a negation.

"But with a Silens...?" one villager asked.

The female traveler laughed merrily; "Oh yes... I've spent a summer when I was little in a covenant because of some illness; although not in the Mother's Covenant...!"

"Ehhh... at some point I shouldn't be labeled as outsider, should I?" she reached where Duo was standing and smiled nicely to him. "Or not...?" she scratched her gauzy black turban; "How about asking your friend to decide?"

"Eeh- but..." Duo stammered.

"Palace, right?" the traveler whispered as she passed Duo to the doorway. "Hurry and leave before your own charm gives you away...!"

Duo stilled at the last part. "A-...alright...! Please wait a moment..." he conceded.

The female traveler winked at him with a smirk, and got out the tavern. Duo walked closer to the table and the gathered men automatically backed away a little; he sighed and picked a small charm looking like a pendant with a light purple gemstone on it and presented it to the owner's wife.

"Ma'am, this is a charm for good health, would you like to trade it with some spare clothes and provision?" Duo asked seriously, knowing the woman would actually decline.

"Honey..." the woman looked apologetic. "Something so luxurious looking wouldn't be good on me...!"

"Please." Duo asked, for some reason he wanted these people to have at least one of his charms.

"...besides, such magnificent charm would just attract the wrong-kind of people in this kind of countryside..." the owner's wife looked uncomfortable; she definitely wanted that pretty thing, but the place she lived in was just not that suitable to have such thing. The men nodded their agreement.

Duo looked dejected, and wrapped his charms back into his bag in silence. He took a deep inhale and exhaled it. "How about this thing, then...?"

It's the last resort; he didn't even know he put that thing in his bag when he left his room, but apparently that thing wanted to be useful to him.

The gathered people stared in silence at the big eight-sided cylinder; it was about 40 centimeters long, with wrought iron carving at its ends. The cylinder was clear with bluish liquid inside filling almost to the top of its height leaving about 2 centimeters of white cloud swirling at its surface.

"It's made of heat-glass, not gemstone. Apprentices practiced their skills by making that kind of charms before making real charms." Duo explained before anyone objected again saying that it's even looking way bigger than the other charms he had. "This one senses danger... like this!" he took the empty wooden mug and banged it as hard as he could to the bar table beside the cylinder.

The bluish liquid radiated a dim light in the middle of the cylinder and a tiny bubble traveled from apparently the bottom-end to the top-end where the white cloud swirled lazily, even though it was put horizontally on the table.

"You could make a use of it, right...?" Duo pleaded.

The hunters looked at each other; "Ehh, it's true that the beasts are active hunting preys in ambush lately...!" the one-eyed man tried.

"From how far away could it sense danger coming?" the earlier man at the bar asked.

"Depends on the danger itself. Ah, but it could sense natural hazards, too...!" Duo got excited when the people showed some interest.

"Natural hazards?" some asked in unison.

"Umm... like when an earthquake is coming, or a flood...!" Duo brightened.

"Really?"

"How to know which danger it is sensing?"

"How long does it take for the danger to arrive from the warning it gives?"

"How about the size of dangers...?"

"Drought! Can it tell us if drought is coming?"

"How about cheating husbands?"

"How about diseases?"

"Ahhh...!" Duo was suddenly rained with questions. "One by one, please...!"

The people quieted altogether. Duo cleared his throat.

"First of all, I made that in training, so it's not that much of such-charm..." he said apologetically. "How to say it..." he thought, "When a danger is coming nearer the ones around that glass-work who'd feel in danger, it'll shine. The bubble would show the size of the danger."

At blinking wide eyes he refined his explanation; chuckling to himself for his previous words. "It's like this; the thing itself doesn't have sense of danger, it's the people or living beings around it that have such. So this glass-work sensed how much you'd fear the upcoming happenings that could threat your lives...! About the interval before the danger comes, I think the bigger the danger then the sooner it'll show some reactions, since it'd be reasonable that the people fearing the danger would want more time to save themselves..."

"So it could sense cheating husbands too, right?" the owner's wife concluded.

"Uhh... I guess..." Duo sweat-dropped, pretending he didn't see the objecting stares from the men present there.

"Hey, if it senses danger through the fears of people, when a person doesn't fear for an oncoming danger, then it won't show any sign? Or when such a danger that everyone never knows about coming...?" a thoughtful looking young man asked.

". . . . . . that's right." Duo admitted, "That's why it's just a practice-charm...!"

"It's okay! It's okay, Honey. This should do just fine; I'll take it with gratitude!" the owner's wife waved spiritedly with a merry smile; the owner beside her frowned in discomfort.

"Woman, even if you find yourself a practical tool, I doubt you'll find slim-size clothes in your drawer for this _Little_ Miss here...! -OWHH!" the owner received a 'wife's loving-fist' on his shoulder that almost send him off his chair.

"Ah, it shines!"

"It's a bigger bubble...!" the men commented while watching the glass-work.

The wife snorted, and waved at Duo; "Wait a moment, Honey; I'll bring down some nice clothes for you and your friend. What's her size?"

"...about mine." Duo answered. The wife nodded and went upstairs humming an off-tune song.

"Missy, how many days will you need provision for?" the owner asked.

"Oh..." Duo turned to the man already had some slabs of meat and bread out. "Just... two days worth for myself...!" and was a little panic at the amount the owner took out from the cabinet.

"Umm... my friend had wild fruits from the forest..." Duo admitted hesitantly.

"Is that about that Silens-thing again?" a man asked.

"Hahaa... not really; just being picky is all...!" Duo laughed; truth was he didn't know what a demon should be eating.

"Okay, then these are for the traveler-Miss too!" the owner nodded. "Don't worry about the drink earlier, it's on the house. But you're not bad to down it in one go...!" he chuckled. The men laughed at that.

Duo sighed and bowed with a smile, they were good people even living with the hardships, that's why he wanted to be useful to them; he'd be sorry if they caught some mischief because of him.

* * *

><p>"Ahh... and the Missy left before telling us her name, too...!" the owner said dreamily while staring at the glass-work hung on the wall of the bar.<p>

"Isn't that the better? If she gave us her name, you'd be thinking of a named-fantasy all the time...!" the wife snorted.

"I almost forgot that one-dress you gave her, you know? I thought for sure that you'd be ridding all of her clothes after that thing happened...!" the owner smiled to himself, sucking at his pipe.

The wife snorted again. "Are you a crazy dad? Why would I rid of our daughter's reminder just because of _that_...!"

The owner chuckled as his wife left him to the second floor. The customers had almost all gone to their own tasks for that noon, and the tavern seemed to become more spacious and subdued.

* * *

><p>"Is your friend okay in there?" the traveler asked from the steering seat.<p>

Duo climbed the ladder and sat next to her. "'s fine, 's fine. Just hibernating...!" he grinned with full-laughing eyes.

"Really?" the traveler smirked. "You're more curious about me than the other way around, huh? Or should I say cautious?" She was actually not too much older looking than Duo, probably around 18 or 19 years old.

Duo still had his full-laughing eyes, though his grin had lost its happy-value. He'd find Heero while having the girl wait for them somewhere, and dressed him in the girl attires including the headdress with long shawl tied from head to his chin to cover his wings, and covered the cloak hood on top of it; and joined the traveler's wagon, resting Heero inside.

"Well, it's okay. I wouldn't probe you about why you're pretending to be a girl, or why there's a demon inside my wagon. People have their own reasons...!" the girl chuckled. Her wagon was a four seat, pulled by two antlers. She packed quite a baggage on the roof leaving the seats relatively unoccupied; so probably she took passengers on the way for some extra earnings.

"...sorry." Duo's grin dropped.

"I said it's alright...!" she repeated.

"Why did you help me back there?" Duo asked slowly.

"You mean in the tavern?"

Duo nodded.

She stared neutrally for a moment. "You didn't need it?"

"No, that's not it. I mean..."

"But those hunters are on for a grand-catch, you know? They're quite good, too." she grinned.

"...they seemed like it." Duo admitted reluctantly.

"Yeah. With your demon playing dead like that, they'd easily get their grand-catch, right?"

"H-...he's not my demon!" Duo flustered.

"Oh? It's a _he_." the girl stared. Duo gave himself a mind-slap.

". . . you couldn't tell?" he tried.

"Ah, you mean I could recognize your gender right away, but not demons?" to that Duo nodded vigorously; he was quite confident that his girl-acts had never failed before.

"Yeah, that's just about it. I could tell with humans but not with demons." she stated.

"That's barely an answer, you know...?"

The girl laughed at that.

"I'm Duo, by the way." Duo offered.

"Myrica." the girl answered.

"Myrica...?" Duo frowned.

She laughed again; "If you're going to say about anti-diarrhea agent, I'll throw you off this wagon."

"Sorry..." Duo sweated.

She laughed; "It's fine; I like it...!"

"...the agent?" Duo asked.

"The name!" she barked. "If you're going to connect that illness I had when I was little and my name, I'll throw you off a cliff!"

"I'm not...!" Duo said exasperatedly.

They silenced for a long pause, the wind was stinging on Duo's tired eyes with their speed and he was about to nod off. But he couldn't trust this stranger yet, that's why he took the front seat, he needed to see where they were going.

"You're sleepy, aren't you? Go inside and rest!" she urged flatly.

Duo frowned at the dirt road. If it was only him, he wouldn't be as worried.

"It's okay. If anything happens to the Palace's Demon, then the whole kingdom would face the consequence, right? I won't be that stupid...!" Myrica frowned.

Duo stared her.

She snorted and turned forward. "I've had my hometown annihilated once; I'm not living through that again...!" she frowned. "Although the ones who did that were this kingdom's army..." she added less loudly.

Duo kept staring at her. She had dark skin and very light blond hair, her eyes were silvery like a mirror surface.

"It's rude to stare...!" she finally objected.

"You're from... the Roude Lord's hometown...!" Duo tried, he was recalling the name of the people but his tired brain wouldn't comply.

"Not of the same tribe..." Myrica chuckled; "They didn't tell children about what our people called themselves?"

"...I'm kind of too tired to recall..." Duo said reflexively with a frown, which earned another laugh from her.

"Well, I'll tell you what Myrica means in our language; 'steadfastness', 'determination', 'hope', and 'beauty'...!" she said proudly.

". . . that's so much meaning for one word." Duo commented.

"Yes. To _hope..._ is to have _determination_ to move forward; and _steadfastness_ to fight through hardships; and that... is true _beauty_." she smiled.

Duo smiled at her.

". . . your people are strong fighters just as they said...!"

She laughed proudly. "...'course we are!"

* * *

><p>Duo put Heero on the bed and loosened the tight shawl from his head, and forgotten the time while examining -<em>staring at<em> was more precise- the inert wings still plastered on the sides of the demon's face. He tried ghosted his fingers over the white feathers several times, only to test whether he'd wake up and reprimand him for it, maybe get mad at him for once; but nothing happened, the demon was dead to the world... and probably literally too.

Duo sighed and washed his face and hands at the sink; Myrica entered the room with a large tray of food when he was taking Heero's shoes off.

"Let's dig in...!" she grinned happily.

"Shouldn't you at least wash your hands first?" Duo arched a brow.

"Since you're paying the bill, I'm going to eat to my stomach's content...!" she chuckled and stuffed three spoonful of food from three different dishes into her mouth.

"To your heart's content, you mean...?" Duo mumbled but realized that she meant it about her stomach content.

"Say... since your friend won't be eating... I can have her share, right?" Myrica winked, talking over her full mouth, and finished the second plate after that.

Duo thought he should point out that she shouldn't say it in the middle of finishing that spoken share, but he resigned when he saw her happy glutton-face, somehow he was reminded how the Mothers raised him on the dining table... they always stuffed him with a lot of food and he never complained.

"...what are you smiling about with a rose-colored air...? It's creepy!" Myrica criticized while stacking the empty bowl and plates with her left hand, while her other hand was picking the smeared leftovers from around her mouth and chin.

Duo chuckled. "Nothing. I was just reminded of my childhood...-"

"Yes, that's the creepy part! I'm older than you...!" she snorted dignifiedly.

"Sorry..." Duo smiled and decided he should just back off from the subject.

"Don't do that... she'll mind it...!" Myrica said with a soft sigh.

"She...-what?" Duo snapped his head with a little flush on his face.

Myrica pointed at Heero with her chin. "You're going to wipe her body, right? She doesn't sweat, so you don't have to do that far...!" she said quietly.

Duo just felt his face poured by a bowl of hot water; "N-... not really! I was just going to wash the feet and hands and... just face..." he tried fast, but realized the girl was staring at him with knowing eyes; and her amazed smile unnerved him.

"Got a master, right?" Myrica asked while kicking her boots off and plopped down onto the farthest bed with a loud sigh.

"Master..." Duo frowned a little.

"In the Palace...?" she added.

Duo silenced. He didn't really want to stray his mind to that direction before, to him the Commander and the demon's relationship was that of a superior and subordinate.

"Ha, the master will take care of her; you just need to hand her over to that master...!" Myrica smiled already closing her eyes. "You could take some rest in peace; anyone targeting you wouldn't expect to search for a traveler party of three girls, right?"

Duo wiped Heero's hands with a wet cloth and took time to mull over the words and their situation. "...You're right...!" he smiled, and realized something; "Wait, you're sleeping in the same room...-?"

And a soft long snore answered him. Duo stared her in silence; she probably hadn't had decent sleep being alone in the road before meeting them.

Duo sighed, "...why would a girl cross some dangerous woods alone?"

But he knew the girl was being considerate of him so he didn't complain more, she'd left a bowl of soup and bread thinking that he was too tired to eat something solid right now. Duo smiled at the thought and finished the food quickly; after covering Heero's body with the blanket, he wrapped himself in his own blanket and slept.

* * *

><p>The night passed without even a flash of dream. Figured, he was too tired to dream, he thought. When he opened one eye a slit, the sight of silvery wide eyes greeted him, staring him with wonderment.<p>

Duo frowned and rubbed his eyes; ". . . what?" he asked grumpily.

"That's your good morning?" Myrica asked, she was squatting beside the bed, and was watching Duo's sleeping face for Sky knew how long.

Duo pushed himself to sit, and yawned as wide as he could, chasing his sleepiness away; moaning to himself when he hurt his jaws doing it.

"Had a good sleep?" she asked walking to the table.

"Ngggh... good enough if I didn't have nightmares...!" he said offhandedly; she laughed at that comment.

"I was thinking to tell you in the morning that you'd probably too tired to be wary of your surrounding when you're sleeping..." she handed a mug of steaming milk to Duo and sat on the middle bed.

"Uh-huh... what changed your mind?" Duo asked while blowing the hot milk.

Myrica chuckled, "The sight of a snoring-cocoon on your friend's feet...!"

"Yeah, well..." Duo tried a gulp, "...can't have anyone steal my friend from her bed while we're sleeping, right...?" he smiled at the warmth spreading in his body, and downed a couple of gulps more.

The girl chuckled over her own mug; agreeing that he should be aware of her too...

"What makes you think I wouldn't drug your food?" she asked.

Duo yawned again, "Ahhh... You're not that kind of people, from what I heard..." he scratched his head.

"My people? Don't you think that your people put too much credit on my people?" she smirked.

"Put a high price, you mean? Sorry about that..." Duo was aware of how much her people valued in money per head, too. "Oh, but I'm the last of my people, you know?" he arched one shoulder and grinned, "So, I don't think we should hold some grudge to each other's people...?"

"Really?" Myrica frowned, "What family are you?" a glint flashed in her eyes and Duo had suspected that she would recognize him from the first time she saw him, that's why she volunteered herself to take him in her wagon.

"Uhmm..." he felt uncertain for a moment, but his instinct told him to trust her for the time being; at least until they arrive at the Palace, so he admitted silently. "...Maxwffh-!"

Duo blinked twice rapidly in surprise, staring straight at the girl's alerted frowning eyes. He mumbled something to her hand covering his mouth, he didn't expect that... and in such instant.

". . . for real?" she whispered slowly.

Duo nodded.

"No way...!" she accused.

Duo nodded firmer.

"I heard everyone of them killed themselves...!" she frowned deeper.

Duo mumbled 'I didn't' to her hand.

She smirked with astonishment; ". . . no, you didn't." Myrica repeated, letting go Duo's mouth carefully. "Your life worth more than my people's heads, right?" she sat back on the bed.

"You could say..." Duo tried to smirk to his mug but failed, he saw what kind of face he was making by the reflection on the milk surface, now that it's not steaming anymore.

"That's why you're in the Covenant?"

"...'guess, that's why I'm here...!" he frowned.

"I see... I thought it was your friend that was being chased, but it's actually you...!" she mumbled, glancing at Heero's sleeping face.

Duo snorted. "Sorry 'bout that...!"

The girl snorted her cynical laugh in an un-lady-like manner, "Ha! That's okay... I'm glad you told me that!"

Duo eyed her for a moment, ". . . you're not afraid of me...?" he asked with a small voice.

"Are you afraid of me?" she asked back.

"...uhhh, probably?" he answered hesitantly.

She smirked, "Well, you should be...! If I'm afraid of you, then you should be afraid of me too; frightened beasts bite harder than wild ones...!" the girl chuckled at her own thought, Duo fidgeted a little witnessing the wildness in her eyes.

"Anyway, we should pass through Gertt's gate by tomorrow noon, so we probably reach the King's City by the next day..." Myrica smiled, "You'd take more time if you were to use horse cart, though...!"

"Gertt, hu...?" Duo frowned, though still smiling; "Why didn't we take Eretta's way?"

"Eretta?" she folded her arms, "I heard some great-man from the Palace tightened the security there, I don't want to be suspected just because of my color...! Don't you know Gertt is always complaining about not having enough enforcement...?"

"Haaa... so that's why the security there wouldn't be as strict as other gates, hu?" Duo's smile pulled unevenly to one side; he knew who that great-man should be, and the reason why the security tightened; wouldn't the Commander tell the Eretta's men to look out for his demon when they're in sight...? Though Myrica's decision might come to his favor as well, no one knew if the one sending those beasts to target him was among the Eretta's men, right?

Though, the culprit might be using the opposite-psychology on him too; which meant that them being with the girl was expected... but wouldn't that mean that she's behind this? Or maybe some ambush was already waiting for them on their way, or in Gertt's fortress? Then, she'd be in danger too if they kept hitching her ride...

"What...?" Myrica asked when she caught Duo stared at her at the sink; toweling her face dry, she urged Duo to finish his breakfast so they could hit the road immediately.

And soon enough, with those thoughts in mind, the antlers wagon carried them off towards Gertt's gate...

* * *

><p><em>saru's note:<em>  
>this chapter took some time to write, mostly because saru wanted to post a chapter of The Future-fic, since our editor... apparently... didn't mind it if we're late with the deadline anymore so he didn't give us any...<br>or he'd just forgotten he still have one project with us...? OTL

btw, on saturday 23rd june, he suddenly called saru to make a cover for the comics (the 32 pages that was for Canada exhibition) because he'd print them and sell it in Popcon event on the 27th.  
>well, in short we sent it on monday 25th, while being skeptical about the printing process... like, in only 2 days...? but it turned out that he photocopied the pages, not printed them... and made only 50 exemplars for that... hahahahahaaa<br>yeah, he said it'd be like early launching or promo... it's fine either way; we're happy to have the paper-form of the comics... we're the outdated type of geeks that feel more at ease holding a book than a gadget -insert happy Dakochan face here-

**Thanks for reading**


	13. Chapter 13

**Another **** -8 july'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 13**

"Commander Odin is here, Sir!" the guard saluted.

"Send him in...!" the General nodded.

Then one of the double doors to the General's study opened, and Odin came in with an utterly pissed off look on his face; the frightened guard saluted once more and immediately fled the room.

The General took a long pause, smiling kindly at Odin who was glaring deaths at him. Probably, he waited for the man to break the silence first, that way he could think of some excuses to defend himself; but Odin knew better than to surrender to that urge.

Finally the General gave in, not because Odin's death-glare got to him, but because his facial muscles got tired from smiling for that long; he sighed and stood up from his chair and walked to the front of his desk, resting his weight there while folding his arms in a relax manner.

"Good to see you again, Commander; any report?" his benevolent voice asked conversationally. Not getting an answer immediately, he asked again; "Have you rested yet? You do look like you need a patch or two..." his gentle smile bloomed again. But the Commander only stood rigid in the middle of the room, his air turned colder with every question he heard.

The General sighed again, and poured the wine from the bottle on his desk into a glass and finished it with a swig. "Need a drink?" he asked at Odin, and chuckled when Odin narrowed his eyes at him.

Then he walked towards Odin, putting his hands behind his back and presented his face at the man. "Okay, you can hit me once. I'll take it, but not in the face, please."

Witnessing that manipulating smile and the confidence shone in the General's eyes, Odin was barely aware that he was pulling his mouth end to gnarl at the blonde man.

The General waited and watched with innocent wide eyes when Odin didn't make a move. "...why not?" he asked eventually.

Odin knew he was being manipulated that way. "With all due respect, General..." he said low in an almost beast-purring voice, "Just once wouldn't suffice...!"

"Woah! Give me some mercy, I'd be dead if you beat the crap out of me...!" the General pulled himself a couple steps behind reflexively, faking a surprised frightened face, although he sounded serious as well.

They silenced for some breaths span, measuring each other.

"Where's Heero...?" the General asked glancing at the empty space behind Odin, though he didn't have to do that to notice that the demon wasn't tailing the man.

"He's not with me." Odin growled, giving the General accusing glare.

The General cleared his throat and rested back on his desk. "Yes." he commented.

"He cut his links with me." Odin added.

The General chuckled skeptically at that, brushing at Odin's words as a joke, but stopped abruptly when he realized the man didn't joke. "...is that right?" he hesitantly asked.

Odin snorted and walked to the General, closing their bodies and bowed to whisper at the blonde's right ear; "What did you expect...?"

The smells of blood and sweat and medicine wafted from Odin's body, mixed with an unearthly fragrance of some flowers he'd never smelled before. The mix was intoxicating and alerting, swaying the General's awareness with a promise of a blissful realm. He smiled; staring back into Odin's eyes from the ends of his eyes.

"Thank-you for your hard work, Odin; I'll see you when both of you are ready." the General said calmly.

Odin narrowed his eyes, ". . . Treize...!" he purred his warning out, but the General's smile didn't waver; Odin knew the blonde wouldn't waver once he'd determined to do something, so he accepted the words as they worth, knowing he didn't really want to punch the General's face when he hadn't really heard all's reasons. Later, when his demon had returned, he'd deal with the General depending on how Heero's doing then; he promised to himself and pulled away from the young man without another word.

Then Odin stopped about two paces from the doors; "...the men?" he asked curtly.

The General smiled at his back, "Thank-you for keeping them alive." he said with a tint of self-satisfaction. "Don't worry, I'll up their ranks one level." he added as an afterthought.

Odin glanced behind, "You better be, or I'll provoke them to rebel you!"

"Now, now, Commander; such joke is not meant to be said with a grim face, someone might think that you're serious about it...!" the General waved playfully, and jumped when Odin closed the door hard enough to rattle the furniture and all.

He grimaced at the swaying chandelier above the room, and scratched his head with a deep sigh.

* * *

><p>Odin stomped angrily to his room, any innocent by-standers unlucky enough to meet him on his way ducked to save themselves behind whatever suddenly-barriers they could find. When he got into his room, he made sure he closed the door with an unnecessary force. The by-standers who were around the area scooted on the floor from behind their suddenly-barriers and peered at the door after some time; mostly to see whether the hurricane had passed so they could continue their ways instead of being curious.<p>

Suddenly the door was opened again, Odin stood rigid still wearing his pissed off look, glaring deaths at the floor and the corridor wall in front of his door. The by-standers swallowed their nervousness and jumped in fright when Odin banged the door closed again harder than the first time.

The by-standers watched wide-eyed at the door which now had a broken hinge, grateful that the man was back inside without lashing his anger at anyone there.

". . . -that... that was _really_ unnecessary..." a little Palace-aide whispered to a guard who so-happen took the same statue's base as their barrier; "What is he, a child...?"

Although the guard was gaping with pale face gesturing to the aide to say nothing.

"...and what would you be?" Odin growled suddenly appearing beside the statue.

"I'm sorry, I'll dig my own grave now, Commander...!" the guard prostrated flat on the floor; while the aide, still squatting normally, looked up at Odin's face with a dignified frown, eventhough his shoulders were trembling.

Odin leered at the boy, enjoying the sight of him biting his lower lip and made his trembling chin even more visible. "You work in the document section?" he asked noticing the tunic the boy wore.

"...I'm... I'm...-!" the young aide widened his eyes, wasn't sure if he was allowed to do whatever the Commander going to tell him (that for some reason, he saw it on the man's face that he was going to order him to do something dangerous).

"You can leave, Guard...!" Odin said flatly to the man on the floor.

"Yessirthankyou...!" the guard said in an instant and literally ran from there, several hasty sounds from other directions told them that the other hiding by-standers were running away from the scene as well.

"So, do you know the way around the library...?" Odin asked after he was sure there was only the two of them there. The aide stared Odin with gaping mouth now, what if the Commander would ask him to search for some secret information which he'd be killed for obtaining them, his mind warned him.

"I need some dependable records about the old-wisdom age; do you know...?" Odin left his question hanging, knowing the aide was already imagining the worst.

"...Old-" the aide shook his head to pull his mind back; "...old-wisdom...?"

"Do you know?" Odin repeated flatly.

"I-... I work in the finance section...!" the aide tried.

Odin snorted. "Forget it, then...!"

"But..." the aide called at Odin's back, "...but I spend a lot of my free time in the library...! Could I be of some help-...?" he shrunk when Odin's sharp eyes landed on him again.

"What's your name?" Odin asked the aide fidgeting on the floor.

"Vi...Vim, Sir..." the aide said staring at the floor.

"You work here?" Odin asked; he knew every faces working in the Palace; although some sections circulated their workers rapidly, but that's all the more reason he had to know about this new face.

"I was just transferred here from the City Magistrate's office last month, Sir..."

"You're young." Odin pointed; the aide looked no older than 13 years old, probably even younger; he had round small glasses on his nose, barely providing for his wide blue eyes.

"I was scouted from Arn'crad's University last year, Sir..."

"Hoo? ...a prodigy!" Odin smirked.

"No... not at all, Sir. I failed the entry test...!" the aide admitted, bowing his grey head even more.

Odin's brows arched. "You're not a student?"

"Aah... I have the eyes to find things faster than anyone...!" the aide added with a smaller voice.

"What...?" Odin asked incredulously, that was a silly reason for the Government workers to be employing a boy, it just showed how much they were lazy to do things; and just then he thought those people had started using their right mind for scouting good-sprouts, all the more that Arn'crad was known for their scholars.

"Stand up; how old are you?" Odin said; the boy complied, the tunic looked baggy now that he was on his feet.

"I'll be 12 this year, Sir." the boy looked up at Odin's with wide innocent eyes then, "I'll find the books you wanted...?" somehow his eyes looked hopeful.

Odin frowned; he recognized that look, having seen them too often in the streets. "You alone?"

"My grandmother's waiting in Arn'crad..." the boy looked nervous but his eyes were beaming with more hope.

Oh, so he's one of those needing-runts that was never given the chance to improve themselves; he'd probably heard of the Commander started from the same line as him, that'd explain that hopeful eyes.

Odin nodded; "If you could find anything, you can find me in my chamber." he flicked his head to his door.

"Yessir!" the boy grinned excitedly. Odin spared another second to stare at the boy then got inside his room.

He heard the light running step sounds the boy made getting away from that place through the thick door, and slid down tiredly to the floor when the sounds disappeared down the staircase. Glancing at the water-crystal clock by the wall next to his bed, he frowned dissatisfiedly at the fact that it was only a couple hours passed dusk. He knew he needed rest, Cail and his men were probably fell sleeping by the stable when they arrived earlier; he didn't really take a glance on them in his pursuit of the General's study. At least they're in the Palace... while his demon had yet arrived; that's what mattered right now.

Rubbing his face tiredly and sighed, he stood up and took a fast shower, made a decent fast meal and finished it before hitting the bed; scowling with refreshened anger at the thought that he usually had his demon in his arms on that very bed.

With a long growl he closed his eyes and tried to rest.

* * *

><p>Duo distractedly putting some bread he was picking from his hand into his gaping mouth. The wind was blowing strong and had sharp twisting currents, apparently because of the form of the landscape. If it was any other <em>better<em> day, he'd flatter the scenery as breathtakingly beautiful... but as of now... he'd just pretend that he wasn't there staring at it.

"Duo...!" the girl chuckled, "If you're going to eat that bread, you should close your mouth and start chewing...!" she smirked, "Oh, and don't forget to swallow afterwards!" and pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Okay..." Duo answered distractedly, probably not aware of some pieces of bread fell from his gaping mouth as he did so.

"Seriously...!" Myrica slung an arm around Duo's shoulders, "What's the matter?" she asked with a grin; and took a big bite of the meat she had in her other hand.

"Uhhh..." Duo glanced at her face and stared back to the open scenery in front of him, he pointed there with his abused bread. The sun was setting and the yellow light made beautiful rays as it passed through the bridge's arching supports.

The stone bridge was connecting two hills separated by a very wide and deep valley; Gertt fortress was standing high on the far hill, while on the other hill stood a checking post. It was almost 6 kilometers long; the longest and grandest bridge that ever built in the kingdom's history. The raised natural stone structures scattered near the two hills were big enough to have buildings on them, connected with suspension bridges, like giant pillars graced with lights on their tops. It was a small city on its own; while the cold had brought down the fog through the valley, covering the stone bridge's piers up to 1/3 of their height from the base. All in all, the scene looked like it was a city and bridge on the clouds.

He'd love it if he weren't going to pass on it with an unconscious demon in a small four seat wagon while being pursued by beasts.

...he'd love it if only the demon was _not_ unconscious to witness it with him.

Duo snapped his full mouth close; some of the bread pieces showered his face with his huff. He chewed angrily, while pointing along the bridge with an up-and-down gesture. Myrica understood what he meant and laughed out loud.

"Yes, we're going to use that stone bridge to pass Gertt's gate. Otherwise how are we going to get to Gertt; flying?"

Duo swallowed hard, and decided he needed some water to swallow after all.

"Beautiful, isn't it? That grand bridge; it's half the reason why Gertt is always saying it's low on enforcement...!" the girl said as if talking to herself.

Duo was coughing after he managed swallowing the bile that was pushing his chewed bread up his throat. His mind already played the worst scenario with detailed graphic; if their wagon was being attacked on that long bridge, then they'd be some goners absolutely.

"There's no other way than to go on that bridge...?" Duo pushed his words out.

Myrica arched her shoulders. "If you couldn't fly, you could try swimming down the valley...?" she took another bite of her meat, "Although it's dry in this season...!"

Duo stared her with dead-eyed gape.

"I know!" Myrica said conversationally and took her previous seat of a stone near the fire; "If we are to get attacked on that bridge, then the worst would be we are dead...!" She took her water pouch and drank, "...but we're not on that bridge yet, so relax!"

Duo stared her with even darker doomed-face.

Myrica huffed. "You're out here with something up your sleeves, right? Or else you wouldn't have survived this far...!" she pointed out.

Duo rubbed his face dejectedly and took another stone near the fire to sit. "But that's before..." he mumbled to himself.

"What?" the girl urged, "Before you knew you'd be chased by flocks of beasts...?"

More like before he knew he'd have an unconscious demon as a luggage, his mind complained. Duo sighed at the girl's annoyed tone, "Hmm... you're right, there's no point on worrying about it now. 'Guess it means that we have to be fit tomorrow to be ready to face anything...!"

Myrica chuckled. "That's the spirit...! But weren't you stocked with enough charms to fend off some beasts?"

Duo scratched his head; "Oh, yeah... about that..." he grimaced, "...they're not working much in the open...!" he admitted hesitantly.

"So what?" Myrica's brows arched up, "Just stay inside the wagon, then!"

Duo stilled for a few seconds. "...but I never use them to hide a demon before...!"

The girl huffed skeptically.

"You know..." Duo frowned, "I just thought that if anyone had enough power to try hunt me using beasts, wouldn't they'd see that me being with the demon is like hitting two birds with one stone? And while him being like that, too...!" he glanced at the wagon where Heero was sleeping.

Myrica stared him with a strange gleam in her eyes for a moment; "You're right, I could easily sell you off as of now...!"

They silenced after that, Duo felt uncomfortable and tried to search for another subject to speak of, but didn't really want to drop the subject left hanging either.

"Hell...!" Myrica started with a yielding tone, "Down there on the rocks is Mainstay; a trader's 'city' and tourism... but the later was a little down-graded with the beasts being around the past years; some said the beasts were attracted by the Palace Demon so they came invading the humans territory now..." she sighed, "My point is, if you don't want to look suspicious, we could take some jobs there. I used to do transport-works from their people...!"

Duo frowned, ". . . that could work as a disguise?"

Myrica arched one shoulder, "Well, at least you could pretend to be not in a hurry, maybe?"

"Hngggggg..." Duo mulled at the idea; truth was he wanted to send Heero to the Palace immediately. He glanced again at the wagon and pictured the demon's unconscious face, and realized something; "Hey, wait, what? ...are you telling me that there are a bunch of people who blamed him for the attacking beasts in that place?" Duo pointed at the small lights visible in the downing darkness.

"Yes." Myrica answered easily.

Duo gaped wider with a deader look on his face.

The girl laughed heartily at him.

"...don't enjoy this!" Duo pointed an accusing finger exasperatedly.

"Don't worry too much; you could deal with problems when they arrived, not before that...!" she said lightly.

"It's not myself I'm worried about...!" he reasoned, almost yelling it out.

Myrica snorted. "You act like a husband waiting for his wife giving birth for their first child...!" she commented off-handedly.

And that worked; Duo stared wide-eyed at her with a nice crimson sheen on his face. The girl laughed again, and stood. "You take the first watch, okay...?" she said as she lied on her makeshift bed beside the wagon.

Duo stared her for some time; then turning around to take a better view of the open scenery while reclining to a tree, he took some time to look at the stone bridge in the far darkness. Finding that he couldn't rest his mind, he thought of something to do and recalled the wire-puzzle he stuffed into his shirt pocket. After examining the craft details on the twisted wires he thought back about the sleeping beasts around their hiding spot the other night; he'd given it some speculations but he knew the things in his hands weren't a pair of charms of some sort. Because if they were, he'd be able to trace their merits however slight they had.

Jangling the wings above his face and drowned a little in the starry-night-sky inside the small clear parts of the wires with the real starry night sky ceiling them in comparison, he smiled eventually when he felt at ease and jumped in surprise when the two antlers came sniffing at the wire-wings from behind his tree. The animals looked serene, and if he were a beast expert he'd say that they were smiling blissfully, as if eventually finding what they'd missed for so long.

Duo blinked at them when they rested at his sides and put their heads on his laps as if fawning at him.

"What-... ummmm... you like these?" Duo asked with a sweat-drop. The antlers rubbed their heads on his thighs while he grimaced awkwardly. He was... you could say, usually frowned upon by commoners, and growled at by animals, even the horse he used as his ride was specially trained for him; that's why he felt a little uncomfortable with this experience.

A thought flashed in his mind, that probably the wire-wings were enchantment items, and the fact that the demon had them was because he was enchanting the necessary people to be in favor to him... Duo shook his head and chased that thought away. No, there's no point worrying some problem that had yet arrived, as Myrica said. He put the wire-wings back into his pocket and forgetting his time by marveling at the sight of Gertt's bridge and Mainstay's lights after that.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you travel light this time, Poeta...!" one of the guards at the checking post grinned at Myrica.<p>

"Yahh! I'm with some friends trying to find jobs in town today; got any?" the girl gave a friendly salute. Duo was grinning at the guard from the open window of the wagon, while the man peeked inside and his eyes landed on Heero's sleeping form having his head lulled on Duo's shoulder.

"All the three of you?" the man asked. "What kind of jobs?"

"I'll take the usual; the girls would-..."

"I can find you spring or such...!" Duo cut Myrica's words.

"Spring?" the man arched one brow and grimace, "Are you sure you girls weren't being kidnapped or tricked by Poeta and are going to be sold to some place- oww!"

Myrica pulled her mouth ends down, staring threats to the man who was rubbing his abused shoulder. "Is it so impossible for a lady like me to have decent friends and jobs?" she asked with dignified tone.

The guard stared her with skeptical drooped eyes; "It _is_ impossible for you being a _lady_ and have decent friend_ly_ jobs...!" he pointed out.

"Why yoouu-...!" Myrica jumped down and chased the man circling the checking post yard making a commotion; while some regular travelers there and other guards laughed at them throwing names at each other.

"Poeta, Mama asked you to make her a new piece if you're around town...!" a regular uncle-type man called out when they passed his carriage.

"...'be there!" Myrica threw while waved back at other men saying something along the line. While the running guard yelled something like 'enough already, you beast-woman' or Duo could heard him wrong since the man was out of breath.

"Wah, she's really popular here, isn't she?" Duo said to the guard who returned Myrica's pass to the wagon.

"Yah, she's a vandal always running about towns since she's little...!" the man smiled at Duo and shrunk with a grimace when Myrica yelled "I heard that, old man!" through the crowd. She was back to her front seat after giving the guard, who'd gave up running, some 'thank-you'-punches; and then steered the wagon onto the bridge.

"What happens with 'not looking suspicious' we're talking before?" Duo asked while climbing to her side.

"We agreed on something like that?" the girl asked innocently, "I'll be suspicious if I didn't do _that_...!" she pointed behind with a thumb.

Duo snickered. "You're well known here...!"

"Yeah, I told you I used to do jobs for the Mainstay folks!"

"...and vandal...?" Duo inquired with a playful grin.

The girl gave him the-stare for a moment; "...it was mostly muscle jobs, alright?" she warned flatly.

Duo laughed knowing what kind of detail she left out; the girl looked more like a mercenary type if anything, she had her bangs in an unruly manner almost standing up above her turban and her straight long hair was left loose with pointy end flowed in the wind like a dragon's tail. "What's with this Poeta-thing...?"

Myrica chuckled, "I make songs...!" she said proudly.

Duo stared her for some time, then turned to watch the scenery around the bridge; the valley base was mostly pincushion-like rocky surface, escaping down wouldn't be an option; the paling lining the balustrades of the bridge wouldn't provide a cover if any beast came flying towards them, the ends were only curved inwards to provide a sense of protection; there was one armament post stood every 1 kilometer on the long bridge and some huge cannons or ground-crossbows were standing at the ready, with 4-6 men in every post. But counting his chances, he thought again that he wouldn't want to be attacked while on the bridge, probably the Gertt men thought so too that's why they're always complaining about lacking enforcement.

The long ride on that bridge felt a little longer than it actually was that Duo was physically tired when Myrica took a stop crossing the suspension bridge to a cluster of pillars outside Gertt.

The large wooden building looked like an inn, the smaller one was a stable; the first floor of the inn was a tavern or restaurant, but the opposite side of the entrance had a large stage that could be seen from the doorways.

Around that pillar were several others pillars with other kinds of buildings on them; Duo was a little unnerved when he recognized that most of the stores there were selling weaponry.

"It's a playhouse...!" Myrica said when she saw Duo stood unmoving in front of the inn, while she unloaded her baggage from the wagon roof. "They don't play performance much since the tourists who'd come here now are mostly hunters and such... That's all the more reason why you shouldn't freeze in the open while carrying an unconscious demon on your back!" the girl whispered the last part to Duo's ear. Duo caught himself and jerked his feet to move forward, following Myrica's wide strides.

"MAMAAAA...! GIVE MY FRIENDS MY USUAL ROOM...!" Myrica called out; Duo grimaced at her loudness.

"SHUT UP, DO YOU WANT TO BAIT THE BEASTS TO COME HERE?" a _miniature_ old lady with a grandpa's-pipe in her mouth banged a wooden mug onto the bar table. Duo frowned at their exchange, noticing that it was their usual greetings by the looks on the working girls' faces; they were chuckling and brightened when they saw her coming in and immediately fawned on Myrica's side as if she was an important costumer.

The Mama, who had small figure the size of a child (only had more wrinkles and was branch-like bony) jumped from her high-chair beside the bar counter and cued Duo to follow her upstairs. Duo glanced at Myrica sitting by one of the table of the restaurant surrounded by flirting girls, then stared down at the old lady who didn't even reach Duo's waist in height. She gave Duo the room key when they reached a corner room and waved indifferently as she left him there.

Duo put Heero carefully on the bed and realized his body had turned more rigid than last night, he didn't check much this morning, being in a wagon and all. He knew he couldn't do anything, so he cursed to himself not really sure whether he should loosen up the shawl around the demon's face in that kind of place, or whether such effort mattered at all.

"I'm sorry, the door's slightly open so I thought I could come in...!" a surprised voice came from behind him, and Duo snapped his head behind and found a maid-girl with her broom and water bucket stood by the doorway.

"It's okay, I kicked the door shut but it seemed-..." Duo said reflexively and recognized the surprised look on the maid-girl face turned still. He turned to Heero and saw the end of a feather stuck out from the cover of the shawl, he straightened his body and turned to the girl while pushing his cloak hood behind with a hand. The maid-girl looked relieved when she saw a hairpin with dangling crystal beads with two feathers on Duo's hair.

"I'm Renn, I do cleaning here; but you could ask me to order some food too..." the girl said shyly, staring at the floor. "...it's about lunchtime now..." she added hesitantly.

"I... -guess I want some home cooking...!" Duo smiled, he was about to decline but noticed she was fidgeting worriedly, and wondered if she'd get more payment from his orders.

"A...alright... Do you need me to clean up here before that?" she tried a smile and stole a glance at Duo's face.

"No, it's okay." Duo smiled wider and she knew Duo caught her glancing and nervously bowed and fled the room, banging herself on her way and spilled the water from her bucket.

Duo sighed and grateful that he'd prepared the hairpin last night while staying up in his watch; though he didn't think they're in the safe yet. He fixed the shawl to cover Heero's wings completely, and thought he could fasten the hairpin outside the shawl as well, he'd made a pair just in case; but a thought occurred that he didn't want to look trying too much, and while pondering if it was too obvious or not, Renn called out from behind the door with a tray of food.

Duo opened the door for her and she arranged the food on the table; she glanced at the pin all the while, and tried to make small conversation about the woods and tavern.

"...is your friend...alright?" she dared herself to ask after finishing her task with the food.

"Yes, she's sleeping a lot. It's usual for her to be like that..." Duo chuckled on the chair.

"Ohh... well, I just wanted to inform you that... if you need a healer, he'd be in Gertt, not here...!" she fidgeted again.

"Alright, thank-you. 'Though we don't need him..." Duo smiled.

"Umm... yes, you're welcome..." she tried and smiled nervously; stealing glances at Heero again. Duo saw it and he thought he should divert her mind to something else.

"Do you... want this?" Duo unfastened the hairpin from his hair.

"Ehh? No, I wouldn't dare, Miss-...!" Renn declined in panic but by the way she averted her eyes and fidgeting Duo knew she at least appreciated it. Girls like transparent and shiny things, after all.

"...it's alright, I make Charms so I have crystals in stock...!" Duo urged politely.

"The-..." the girl looked down at her feet, gripping her off-colored apron at her front, "They... would be a waste... on someone like me..." she reasoned with a small voice, whispering with a pained tone at the end.

He genuinely felt for her, and put the hairpin in her hands. "You are welcome...!" he smiled with a closure. Renn widened her eyes and opened her mouth, but her words didn't reach her lips as Duo already turned his back at her, pulling a chair by the table and looked like he was about to eat; she stilled for a moment and then bowed as her thanks and left, closing the door as quietly as possible.

Duo was stirring the thick soup in his bowl, and sighed out long and tiredly when he felt her descending the stairs; he didn't really feel like eating and decided to just watch outside the window to see if anything worth alertness. Some carriages were passing through the inn's yard, carrying roughen hunter-like men and some others carried hawker-like men. It made him wonder if Mainstay now was making the beasts into business. In general, he didn't like the prospect of getting involved in the city's activities; he thought he'd just tell Myrica down the floor about it and urge her to continue with the journey.

A series of loud crashing sounds heard from downstairs as if answering Duo's thought, and he saw that some passer-by were pausing on the yard to see inside the inn. With a panic Duo locked the door and feared the worst when he heard the commotion as he descended the stairs.

"...-SAY WHAAT?" a burly man with a lot of scars on his visible skin asked furiously at Myrica; a table was knocked over and a couple of chairs were broken, some platters were scattered in pieces on the floor, and Renn was trying to pull her hand out of the man's grip with tears of fright running down her face.

"I SAID THIS IS NOT THAT SORT OF PLACE! CLEANSE YOUR EARS AND DIRTY-MINDS BEFORE YOU GET IN HERE...!" Myrica yelled at the man's face, and he knew she had it in her so he decided to back down while not looking like it, throwing Renn's lithe body by her hand to another angry looking working-girl near him, he gnarled at Myrica.

"...You're lucky I'm not in the mood to crush some girl's face right now...!" he growled low bending his body to match her height, and then turned for the door.

Myrica narrowed her eyes at the man's back, and just as his feet about to leave the doorway she took an already damaged chair and made sure it was broken in pieces using the man's back; the large man snapped his head at Myrica, his hand already pulling his broad-sword from its scabbard as his body half turned in the air in a good reflex; but the girl had a better move as she high-kicked his chin and sent him flying onto the yard.

The pausing passer-by gave her an appreciative 'ooooh' with a round of applause, knowing the man was unconscious on the ground.

"BEAST-FEMAAAAALE! DON'T MESS WITH MY PATRONS, AND YOU BETTER PAY FOR THE DAMAGES...!" the Mama screeched in a literally ear-splitting voice standing in an authoritarian fashion on her high-chair.

"YOU BETTER NOT LET THAT KIND OF ANIMALS GET INTO YOUR PLACE, STUPID-HAG!" Myrica countered with a daring pose.

"YOU WANT ME TO PASTE YOU INTO THE KITCHEN'S DISH, MUSCLE-GIRL?" the Mama started throwing miscellaneous things from the bar table at Myrica. Some working-girls hastily closed the doors, leaving the man's friends outside gaped in hesitation.

Duo was gaping on the stairs as well, not really sure if it's alright for him to not stop the girl (or the miniature Mama) from rampaging. A working-girl scooted over to him and whispered; "...it's alright, they do that all the time. She gets paid for that with room and food...!" she winked.

Duo closed his mouth with a click, and stared at the girl, still with widened uncertain eyes. The girl chuckled heartily; "You see... we are actually actresses; we play instruments and sing and dance at night, while serving at the tavern when we're not on stage. But the tourists are mostly that-kind of men lately; they often mistook us as prostitutes and try to do indecent stuffs... Myrica plays the barbarian-girl role, she's one of us, 'though not always...!"

Duo blinked and recalled Myrica's words before; "...the... muscle jobs...!"

"That's right, that's right...!" the girl laughed cheekily, hiding it with a feather-fan.

"I heard that BARBARIAN-GIRL part!" Myrica grinned stiffly from behind her, and the working-girl immediately fawned on her like she would to a rich young-master.

Duo decided that it wasn't such a situation where he should be worried, and turned back to the room. He was about to unlock the door when he heard the stifled sniffling sounds coming from a closet next to the staircase; sighing, he yielded and got back to the staircase and sat beside the closet door then waited until the sniffling sounds ebbed.

". . . I'm sorry . . ." Duo said quietly; the sound from the closet halted abruptly. "Was-...did that happen because the crystals I gave you pulled some unwanted attention...?"

It turned quiet for a long pause; Duo thought the girl wouldn't want to face him after something like that so he just quietly waited there, purposely making some movement so the girl inside knew he was still there by the sound of the friction his clothes made. After about fifteen minutes passed, the closet door opened slightly; Renn peeked from the gap hesitantly but her tears had dried, she tried a shy smile at Duo.

Duo smiled back at her.

She crawled out from the closet and sat beside him, hugging her knees. ". . . I'm not beautiful...!" she said quietly after taking a long silence.

"My skin is freckled and my face is chubby...!"

"You're cute...!" Duo smiled without looking at her face, knowing she'd be embarrassed.

"Some men..." she stared at her bent knees, "...knowing I'm not talented for the stage... would try to ask me to..." she trailed off and swallowed bitterly; "...they thought I'd be cheaper than the other-..."

"...just tell them to go to hell!" Duo said flatly; "-and paste their heads onto the table...!"

The girl chuckled at that. "...I wish I had enough muscles to do just that...!" she wiped a tear formed at the end of her eye. "But I don't want to cause trouble for Mama and the other girls..."

She sniffled once. "...well, it's true that I was sold here... But I like working in this place; I love the people in this building, they've been like a real family to me...!"

Duo stayed silent and let the girl pour her heart out.

"Am I boring you, Miss...?" Renn glanced at Duo; he smiled at the floor and shook his head. "I keep the hairpin under my shirt..." she whispered conspiratorially; Duo chuckled.

"You love it?" only then he allowed himself to stare at the girl's face. She nodded with a stronger smile and a little flush on her cheeks.

"I never had something so beautiful before... My father remarried when I was 8; and my new mother died the next year in labor, along with the baby..." she smiled at her knees again, "My father couldn't deal with the loss, and died by illness a few months later. My new mother's brother took me in after that... and... his family thought of me as a stranger, and never really welcome me..."

Renn paused long after that confession; Duo knew she skipped some details and he just listened.

"The village was attacked by beasts 2 years ago... I was the only survivor; and I didn't regret what happened to those people either...! They deserved it...!" Renn frowned at the floor but her finger fidgeted nervously. "I'm a bad person, right?" she chuckled ironically.

Duo stared at the sky outside the windows in front of the staircase; "...I wouldn't say that it was nice; but I won't say it's bad, either... For me, good people aren't always nice; and nice people are worth to be wary of. I'm just being defensive, but I think if I have some ones I care about, I won't mind becoming a bad person for their sake..." he stared at her, "You have friends that would do something like that for you; so I thought you should be more happy...!"

Renn stared him back for a moment.

"The beasts... started to invade this area 3 years ago, Mama said. This place's just going down from there; the girls here... You should have seen them in a play; a _real_ play. They have talents that are so wasted now. I just wish I could be more helpful to them instead of the other way around. I'm sorry you have to come here at a time like this..." Renn said with a small voice. "But even so, this place is still so beautiful to me...!"

Duo hummed his agreement, summing up that she was talking about the scenery of that place at large. "Eh... Me?" Duo pointed at himself, he suddenly felt she was talking in a different meaning about him before the last sentence.

Renn stared at him for a moment, and she realized she'd jumped to a wrong conclusion. "I'm... I'm sorry. I thought Myrica brought you here to work...!" she said with a beet red face.

"It's okay, don't feel bad about it. I'm not talented for stage, either...!" Duo tried fast; "I make charms, and sometimes dowse things for people..."

Renn's eyes widened, she didn't really pay attention when Duo said it in the room before. "You are one of the Blessed...!"

Duo grimaced and made dejected face. "...not that much... It's good if I could be of help to others; but even if I could find things for them... I can't use it to find the things concerned to me; or the things I wanted. It's a pain...!"

"Oooh..." Renn's excitement died down; "...like... you couldn't find the right way to save yourself even when your life is in danger?"

"...or my friends'...!" Duo's smile turned sad, and he averted his eyes from the girl's. "Some blessing...!"

Renn mulled at the words, and she found just the same answer as for her own complaint before. ". . . then that means, you'll be blessed with friends that would protect you instead of you protecting them; they'll protect you because you are meant to be cherished...!"

Duo glanced at her and she shied away; "I... think my father said something like that when I was small...!"

"Thank-you..." Duo smiled warmly, albeit a little sad. "I wish my father would have said the same thing to me..."

"Why not? You are one of the Blessed...-!"

"My parents committed suicide after I got born; the rest of the family followed afterwards..." Duo admitted hesitantly.

Renn widened her eyes in panic for touching such a subject; Duo waved her off. "It's okay, I didn't feel the loss; but I guess that's what made me feel sad..."

The girl silenced and fidgeted awkwardly; her 'I'm sorry' died in her throat, she wasn't sure if Duo wanted to hear it or to not hear it. By then Myrica was climbing up the stairs with noisy stomps and a loud burp.

"Oh... you look fine to me...!" she commented at Renn; "The girls treated me with a lot of food I thought I'd die of chock-fullness...!"

Duo frowned at her rubbing her slightly bulging stomach, knowing what kind of appetite she had.

"You've eaten?" she stopped beside Duo and asked, looking down.

Duo wanted to point out that she'd already finished probably the sum of 20 people's share and she should ask him that before doing it, but he refrained and just nodded.

"Okay." she said simply and head for the room, unlocking the door with her own key; "I'll be sleeping to make up for tonight; you should too."

"What's going on tonight?" Duo asked a little alarmed.

"Just the usual...!" Myrica said before closing the door.

Duo frowned with incomprehension.

"Down stairs will be veeeeeerry noisy...! And those men usually don't stop being loud until they collapse on alcohol or bar-fight or thrown out...!" Renn whispered to Duo's ear. She chuckled at Duo's expression, and made a gesture to please him to get into the room.

Myrica's room had two beds, and she was already snoring on the far bed; a little awareness warned him that perhaps he shouldn't have put Heero on the bed close to the door because he was visible from the corridor if the door panel opened, but it's too late to change beds now. He sighed and covered Myrica with a blanket and sat back on the round windowsill that was fitted with a U-formed fluffy recliner-seat and cushions, thinking that the inn must have been an expensive one before the business regressed, while looking out at the other pillars and different activities until the wind lulled him to sleep.

* * *

><p>The yellow sunlight painted the sky to an angry fiery canvas; the girl squinted and sheltered her eyes with a hand, then tightening the shawl she had on her head and shoulders, she covered her face and slipped through the back tunnels down the pillar, and hidden bridges in the crannies between the rock pillars fissures. She climbed her way up some uneven stairs of rock with her hands; they're roughened by works so she didn't mind the added few scratches on them. A black wooden door hidden deep in the crevice came visible, and she smiled in relief. Putting her hand into a small hole at the wall she pulled a dangling chains; a dull knock heard muffled by the rocks from the inside... she repeated with such rhythm and waited, after several minutes passed she heard the sounds of several locks being undone and the heavy door opened inward with a hard jerk.<p>

A rowdy burly man peered none too friendly at her from the crack; "...What d'you want? Slaves don't come 'ere!" he growled with rough almost not-a-voice.

"I... I have something that might interest you...!" she tried with a shaky voice.

"Is that a g'rrrl?" another rough growl asked from the inside, and the door opened wider with another hard jerk. The girl gasped half-consciously and lowered her head more, hiding her eyes from the burly (almost in an inhuman way) men. The dying light of the sun gave an eerie cast to shade out the men's hunched bodies, their arms were too long to look humane, with chunky hands that had their fingers almost brushing the ground.

She couldn't help but squeaked when the second man's hand tried to brush her face, as she fearfully ducked her head he caught a lock of hair instead.

"Soft litt'l thingggg...!" he appreciated and laughed, sounding like a mortar grinding stones.

"I... I have news; will you trade with my freedom...?" she shied away from the man's hand and had to pull her hair from his grip; she stumbled with another squeak when she got it freed, and they laughed at her frightened form.

"And what kind 'f news worth your fr'dom, eh?" the first man asked grinning wide with unholy light shone in his sunken black eyes, showing his incomplete spiky teeth.

"There's... a demon up in town...!" she almost sounded like about to burst to cry, but she tightened her shawl and held her tears back. "Please don't come after me anymore... I want to get out of this place...!" she mustered her anger and managed an almost yell.

The men glanced at each other and scoffed. "Such is not f'r you t'say! We'll see what you could do _aft'r_ we got the demon; wh're is it?"

The girl took some deep shaky breaths and looked up at the men's faces; she whispered the location of the demon and stared them in the eyes to show her honesty.

"You bett'r not telling lie, 'r we mince you slowly to make beast bait...!" the first man growled low.

"Didn't you take me here because I can do this kind of thing...?" the girl shouted angrily, her hatred shone in her eyes as she gritted her teeth.

The burly men let out their stone-grinding laughed again, clearly enjoying the girl's hatred, knowing that she couldn't do a thing about it even if she could muster enough courage to try anything; and the door slammed shut.

"You... you will let me get out this town, right? ...right?" the girl asked to the shut door, not getting any answer in return.

Gritting her teeth again in anger at her helplessness, she turned around sharply and decided to go back. The wind was billowing strongly when she passed through the hidden bridges that she had to hold her shawl from flying away; the darkness just layered the sky and the fog was thick down the wide valley... biting her shaky lower lip she realized the wind carried a strong beasts' smell. She took a few seconds to confirm what her nose told her, and ran back to the top of the pillar to alert everyone.

* * *

><p>Duo woke up with a jerk; his inner alarm blaring inside his head, banging his heart painfully, ringing his ears. He knew he should wake up, and fast; but his body felt like it weigh a few times heavier, and he was struggling to open his eyes or to just move a finger. With a sinking feeling he knew he was drugged.<p>

The charms in his bag were screaming.

Sucking much air and gritted his teeth, he tried shifting his body weight; and with a grunt he fell sideways onto the floor. The pain from the fall gave him enough links to connect his mind and body, and he tried worming his way to the bed where Heero should be lying there lifelessly, eventhough his eyes couldn't see it if the demon was still there or not.

A beastly shriek from far away jerked his mind to a more aware state.

...beasts.

A lot of beasts.

Coming.

RUN.

A woman's screech in horror answered Duo's mind instantly, it's not near enough but his ringing ears picked it as if it was next door. He jumped with a gasp, and in frustration banged his forehead a couple times onto the floor.

The room swirled in a twisted loop for some-long-moments-he-couldn't-count; fighting to keep the nausea at bay and to breathe, he waited the ride to end while his mind tried painfully to push the alarm in his head down to a tolerable level. When he forced open his eyes again, his vision was clearer and he could make out shapes and distance better; grunted, he crawled and almost in panic reaching out to the bed's mattress. The hoarse gasping sighs coming out his mouth sounded like a dying man's breath, his heart felt like it had exploded with relief and he couldn't stop trembling.

Thank Sky Heero was still there... his mind pointed, and he pulled his body up onto the bed; gasping for air when he realized his throat and lungs felt like they're on fire.

While he sprawled most of his body on the bed, he saw the demon's wings glinted in the moonlight streaming down from the small windows above the bed. The spare cloak that he'd put on him was gone including the shawl around his head and face, but the girl attire was still intact. Even the blanket was nowhere in sight; with hands placed neatly on his front, he looked like a sacrifice presented on an altar.

Duo propped his body with his hands, and he couldn't help but appreciate the serene scene in front of him. His mind admitted that it was such a beautiful sacrifice to behold. For some reason his body had calmed drastically and his breathing became only tired-heavy-breaths like. Beast shrieks and human screams were heard from the outside, but Duo's mind wasn't in alarm anymore, he had enough awareness to assess the surrounding; finding Myrica wasn't on the other bed, and her belonging was nowhere in that room.

The absence of panicked footsteps inside that building told him that it was already deserted; the contrasting sounds of chaos from outside only made that fact more obvious. Loosening the cloak he still had, Duo used it to cover Heero's body and head as best as he could then carried him on his back. At that instant the round window exploded into splinters while Duo could only freeze and braced himself for the worst, but it was only part of a wooden support from another building flying through it and stuck almost horizontally on the opposite wall.

Duo took deep breaths as he cursorily examined the support; something sharp and jagged had undoubtedly cut halfway into the thick wood, and it was ripped violently and thrown by an extremely strong force, he thought as he realized that another building with such support was supposed to be on another stone-pillar. He glanced at the silhouette of the supposed building it came from and he knew that the suspension bridges were the worst option, if it ever a choice at all.

Following his logics, he tried to find a way down, lower than the ground level; he thought there should be any shelter underground, be it cellar or coal bunker since there could be no chance to escape through the bridges; especially if the Mainstay folks were already used to the beast's attacks. He wasn't all that surprise finding no one on the first floor; the stage was missing its respective curtains, they're probably stored somewhere safe... probably along with the girls who hold them precious. A little voice whispered in Duo's mind that probably he wasn't being sold, some-certain-someone just forgotten about him and a certain-demon in a certain room when she's evacuating the others to safety.

A small cool ticklish feeling touched his heart, he wasn't sure if it was endearing or upsetting but he knew he wasn't angry... -probably not yet.

A loud bang heard and something huge crashed to the locked front doors. The thick wooden doors with steel framework broke but didn't shatter; the collision sent enough force that Duo's body was thrown a couple steps forward, landing heavily on his front and chin. Suppressing a moan as he tasted the tangy liquid in his mouth, he glanced to the large crack on the door; whatever plunged there was still thrashing to break free from some trapping device. Struggling to his feet, Duo instinctively thought to find shelter behind the stage, the farthest from the doors.

Outside, some explosions heard with shouts from apparently some hunters; some shouts were bold while some more notable ones were screeches of some men meeting their demise.

His head was still pounding, he complained as he slid down to the floor behind the stage's platform; he didn't need more drama to add to the situation.

. . . that cool ticklish feeling didn't take too long to turn icy; with heavy trembling breaths he held the demon's unanimated body in his arms. While his mind tried to decipher his situation.

Drug. Food. Room. Window. Air.

His swaying awareness began to formulate whatever he encountered that needed to be suspected. He didn't touch the food, but he did hold the utensils; some drugs worked through simple touch, while others took effect just from inhalation. The food smelled nice, but the ones might be affected by that could be random...

Unless it needed other substances to take effect; some trigger, like other smell...

It couldn't be the smell from the air outside, he thought; if Myrica didn't seem to be affected by it, then it most probably something that was an ordinary thing in this place.

Room. Window. Drug.

He tried again.

Air. Drug...

Widened his eyes to what formed in his mind, Duo tried denying his suspicion, but the realization still surged to the surface.

Air. Ordinary.

It's the fog outside.

The thick white fog was poisonous air...! That should explain why there were only rocks down that deep wide valley. Of course, why didn't he realize it sooner?

Oh, he knew why; he was too immersed in the worries of the beasts attacking them from the open air on that bridge...

His body trembled again as fear crept into his heart; he wouldn't be able to escape outside if that's the case. The people of that place, even the hunters, most likely had developed enough resistance to the fog... even the newcomers? No. Probably somewhere in those lining stores some drugstore was selling specific antidote for it.

Ambush. in Gertt.

His mind retraced his worries from the other day, and realized with a sinking feeling that Gertt _was_ the ambush.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanx for reading<strong>

_saru's note_:

tried to finish this chapter and post it before august, but it didn't proceed as fast as saru thought.

anyway, the-monkey is going to be absent for about 3 months starting august; there's a new project with a _real_ deadline this time, and it's for a game... (*is wondering whether the animation project was canceled, but feels relief with the free time; since the-monkey is being paranoid for ever taking the interview for that project in the first place)

our editor asked us to come to the STGCC event in Singapore this _December_, Oni-tan couldn't (definitely CAN'T) because she's acrophobic and can't board a plane; saru is agoraphobic, so meeting (even just sensing) with too many people is trouble (they never see saru when saru got a panic-attack in events, so they didn't really know what to expect); we said, but he's kind of coaxed the-monkey to consider going... but then, the event will be held in September (before saying december, he said about the event would be in october... why the estimated time changes a lot?), so saru CAN'T go (is happily so) since we have a deadline in the mean time -yaaaaay-

...well, maybe next year...


	14. Chapter 14

**Another **** -2 August'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 14**

There were books stacked neatly in racks over racks over racks over racks of books...

Vim traced the book racks from the floor to the far ceiling with a wide gaping mouth, amazed at the impossible amount of books one library could contain. The chamber was of a tower, and the book racks were placed by the walls; it was almost circular with only the pier above the doors separating the racks with a vertical line. There was a huge crystal-clock on the pier wall, its 12 hands were as big as the boy's body, with a carving of the Kingdom's insignia at its center, blazing 'rays' of pointy tiny-crystal-hands making it like a model of the sun.

The tower was divided by sections of circular balconies every three-stacks of book racks, while each book rack contained between 7-10 shelves depending on the size of the books; Vim cursorily counted there were at least 7 balconies. In the middle of the tower was a spiraling black-iron staircase, ended with a T-section catwalk making a bridge in the middle of the void of the highest balcony. The sunshine from the cupola above dazzled his eyes when he looked up, but he could recognize that except for the T-section catwalk there was no more walkway from the spiraling staircase to the other balconies, nor there was staircase connecting each balcony to the next level. So, awkwardly he looked right and left looking for a device to go up eventhough the first sight of the library already told him that there was no such a thing, except the spiraling middle staircase standing silently with pride.

With a downhearted sigh he scratched his grey head using both hands, the curly locks stuck out everywhere after that.

"Of course, that's why the Librarian outside let a runt like me in... the upper balconies must be reserved for higher people...!" -and some identification item was needed to access the catwalk; he realized that when he deciphered how the catwalk must be able to travel up and down along the railing, where the supports for the staircase stood firm from the floor like bars of cage guarding the spiraling staircase. "So the catwalk should come spiraling down as well, like travelling inside a bottle cover... Nice mechanism! -but that means I only have access to the racks on the floor level...!"

The boy tsk-ed, his eyes already pointed some devices on the respected points where the catwalk should meet the doors on the railing-cage and thus linking the balcony forming a T-section. Something like a pass was seemingly needed; like a key or something like a medallion or such, he wasn't sure if he hadn't checked the device first.

"Ahhh... and I already told the Commander I'd find it and bring it to his chamber... What should I dooo-?" Vim dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged, propping his chin with hands and elbows at his knees. He said he used to spend his free time in the library, but that was the City library not the Palace's; in fact, it was his first time going inside the Palace library.

Well, finding the books should be no trouble, the problem was to obtain them; he thought for a while and decided he should at least do the first thing, the second could be planned after that, depending on the location of the books. With that in mind he closed his eyes and brushed the room with his awareness, he felt something like a silvery dim flickers poking his mind, but he needed to find the golden sparks.

He opened his eyes and frowned. That was strange, silver flickers meant that the things were of relation to what he was searching, but not finding a golden spark meant that the books the Commander wanted were not in that place. "But that can't be...! With this amount of books; not even a single one...?" Vim stood and looked up, tracing the racks and piling books with his eyes; and all he saw were silver flickers in only several books in the high shelves... some were dim, some were brighter; but still not a single golden spark.

". . . . . . it's not in here . . .!" he mumbled slowly.

"What is?" a long flock of black hair brushed the boy's shoulders from behind and above, tickling his right ear playfully.

"GYAAAAHH!" the boy jumped and threw himself forward to the floor, although the voice that surprised him was flat toned and slow-chanted.

The owner of that long hair stood vertically on the support-cage, which meant horizontally against the gravitation. It was a girl, around 5-6 of age, with slender build and long legs... in fact her build was too slender to be human, Vim immediately realized. She had black hair cupping her pale cheeks, the unruly locks on top of her head made a pair of cat-ears-like cowlicks while at the sides of her temples were another pair of droopy wings-like cowlicks bounced every now and then with her head movement. The hairdo on top was a short bob, while there were two locks of long 'tails' flowing from her nape; the 'tails' were seemingly alive as they wiggled slowly like a real tail of a cat.

"You-... are you the operator?" Vim fast regained his composure.

"Operator?" the girl tilted her head in incomprehension.

"...of that." Vim pointed to the catwalk high above them.

The girl turned around facing the ceiling, her 'tails' twitched in recognition; when she turned around facing the boy still sitting ungracefully on the floor, she was frowning. "...is that because I am a CAT...?!" but her slow-chanted words almost losing their unhappy tone.

Vim blinked and realized the girl was upset. "I'm sorry; it's because you surprised me...!"

"You're new here..." the girl pointed brushing off the boy's words and the previous topic.

"Yes." Vim rearranged his sitting pose, bending his knees and folded his feet back neatly, and placed his hands on his laps. "I'm Vim. I work in the finance section." he bowed.

"Not the building. I mean this chamber." the girl put her hands behind her.

"Oh... yes, it's my first time here...!" the boy bowed again.

"Are you looking for something?"

Vim paused for a moment; this girl was definitely not human, she spoke slowly and her voice was melodious; and he wasn't sure if it was alright to tell her what he was searching for.

Not getting immediate reply, she decided to speak on her own. "The books on the ground are common. The uncommon ones are placed higher." she turned a little and pointed up, "The rarest are on the top."

The boy thought so, too. He stifled a sigh.

"What books do you want?" she asked.

"Old-wisdom..." Vim said reflexively, already thinking the impossibility of getting one.

"As in wizard-style?" the girl asked again.

Vim caught himself as he realized he'd said it, but the words he heard as answer surprised him. "...wizard?!" he asked disbelieving his ears. Why would the Commander look for wizard books?

"No! I-... don't know; it's just old-wisdom, not wizardry...!" he said hesitantly.

The girl tilted her head again.

"Any preference of age?"

"Age...?" Vim thought for a while; he replayed the scene when he first saw the Commander at a courtyard from far away, and his mind pointed about the last time he saw him on the corridor of the man's chamber. "D-... demons...-" his voice shook by uncertainty, but he said what his mind told him anyway, that the sight of Odin the last time he saw him was missing a certain demon trailing behind him like another shadow.

The girl stared at him for a long moment; it made him regretted his action and was thinking to flee the library on first opportunity.

"Such books are forbidden ever since the Demon entered this Palace." the girl said flatly.

Vim sighed and decided to flee now, thinking that the girl's answer was a closure.

"...that's why they're stored up there." she pointed to the cupola.

Vim froze when he heard the additional answer. "...eh?" he reflexively looked up to the cupola in the ceiling; there seemed to be a room hidden by the chamber's ceiling... but the staircase didn't reach it...! His mind pointed out; and the distance from the end of the spiraling staircase was roughly about... his mind decided to stop tinkering the impossible then.

How could he cross a vertical distance of 4 stories high? ...flying? Or falling down? To fall down to the catwalk might already mean death, falling down the rest of the height to the floor would mean something along the line as 'in pieces'...?

"Rianka." the girl said suddenly with a smile, and giggled as she agilely ran on the support-cage to the catwalk high above, and disappeared after she crossed it to the highest balcony.

After that, Vim took about 30 seconds to realize that she was saying her name.

* * *

><p>Vim knew he shouldn't do this, but he had no other option; it was a chance to a real recognition from a Palace denizen, and it's the notorious Commander whom-everyone-so-make-a-matter-of to boot. It might be the only chance for him to make himself visible, so he had to succeed...<p>

"Hufft..._'Boy, fetch me the case no.180-Nayle-river!_' the big man said, '_Oh, and while you're at it, fetch me the book about the management budget on the 3__rd__ street of that city!_', '_Fetch me the scroll of development budget year 17__th__ King's City South District, kid!_' the skinny man said, '_Fetch me some moon-tape to mark this file_', '_fetch me some files to mark later_'...fetch me, fetch me...! That's all they could say, and they couldn't even remember my name...! It's Vim, V I M, and has the same amount of letters as _boy_ and _kid_, and they couldn't even remember it! What's the case-naming system for if they couldn't remember the places they stored the files in, anyway; what's the taping for if they couldn't remember what they wrote and on which files, anyway...! Really, those goons who couldn't even remember what their jobs are-...!" Vim blew his breath several times, he grinned stiffly to his feet, trying to accumulate his anger to replace strength that was dissipated by a slight relief. "Oh, great! We're here...!" his voice shook a little by the excitement.

. . . although the next task was more than great, he thought.

He snorted and peered up at the narrow recesses under the spherical structure, some birds apparently made them as nesting grounds, he calculated his body size and concluded that he could push himself through the hole, as long as there was no nest in it; a tight fit, but it was certain... the real gamble was to get a footing in the hidden library after he pushed through the hole.

Sighing deeply, "...get a footing. Right!" he sounded pessimistic but he'd decided to do it anyway, that's why he'd brought a very strong rope fastened in heavy loops, the very thing he'd been dragging for about half an hour on the roof; which he wouldn't manage without some doping from his anger to his employers to do it.

Looking around, Vim sighed as he knew he wouldn't find anything to tie his rope to; "I knew it, that's why I brought a verrry long rope...!" A thought in his mind pointed to him that he should at least grateful that another building of the Palace had its roof connected to the tower of the Palace Library. He then plaited one end of the rope into a pedal-like loop, where his foot should rest while he lowered his body with its length through a pulley; or so he planned in his mind. The tricky part was to tie the other end of the rope to the roof; the airway recesses were far apart, so he couldn't tie it on the structure between; and the dome didn't have anything on top of it... there was probably something there in the past, but it's now gone for some reason.

He stared suspiciously at the new chipped dome top.

"...I should tie it around the dome itself, then...!" he shrugged and tried just that.

Three hours and some tens minutes later, after some failed attempts to walk the ledge around the dome, and some rolling-down-on-the-dome experiences, and some sliding-down-the-roof fails, he found himself managed to tie the rope around the very large dome roof and that he could adequately push himself through the airway recess if he only had his inner clothes on, and that fact only left him a little space left to wound the rope around himself, and that the pulley was VERY hard to pull with his body weight added into account, and despite he had a very long rope prepared he'd forgotten to check whether it was free of knots, and that realizing those things while he was already hanging from the dome's roof would be too late... so he found himself tied with only a single _dead-_loop around his waist, while he was clad only in his dirty under garment -being a poor orphan living on his own-, with a knot stuck on his pulley, hanging about 13 stories high inside a tower, and he couldn't do anything about _any_thing.

And he was just about the level of the hidden library, too, his mind complaint; to his surprise there were only three small shelves built into the dome's wall and the books were not even filling half of them. He'd risked it to swing himself to the sides, finding that there was a circular railing guarding the space, but the length of the rope suspending him didn't reach it, and the creaking sounds from the pulley gave him the creeps, knowing that if it breaks then he would lurch down the depth of the tower, and his small skinny waist might not survive the jerk of the rope from the sudden stop.

"Great..." he stared at the faraway floor below his dangling feet, the right foot he placed on the pedal-rope already felt numb; "...someone save me...!"

Mocking his plea, the crystal-clock on the pier struck 12 and the twelve hands shone as they rang its twelve chimes in the same time; the sounds were of soft reverberating resonance like the tinkling of a series of wind chimes, and it was calming of all things; but it didn't help Vim's situation.

". . . . . . thank-you-" he said anyway with tears of helplessness streaming down his face.

Noting that there were not that many books in that hidden space, he decided to search then; the height and his position disturbed his concentration so he tried closing his eyes, the first long minutes he could only see fog in his mind; then after some pushing he found his mind's eye staring at a brick wall, then a flicker of red glimmered behind that wall.

He frowned; nothing shone red in his vision before; nor any brick wall materially visible in that area.

Intrigued, he focused his mind on that light, which now had multiplied into a swarm of red glitters; they slowly swayed as if riding a calm current, then swirled in and around themselves and formed a single bright light, and shot itself into him.

"-Wahh!" Vim jerked in surprise and opened his eyes instantly, and was panic when his eyes saw red everywhere, and his right foot lost the rope footing and his body automatically balanced itself on the rope around his waist, and he had to scream when his upper body fell forward, kicking his feet with the swaying momentum, and then...

"You are funny." that slow melodious dispirited voice said to him from behind.

Vim choked and froze; realizing now the rope was painfully cutting into his waist and left him almost breathless so he shouldn't waste it by screaming hysterically.

The swaying had stopped.

His vision gradually cleared, and he tried taking in some breaths.

The dead-knot of the rope was at his right side, so he wasn't really hanging faced down. Turning his head up passed his right shoulder, he found the-cat from this afternoon, standing vertically on his lifeline with an old book with black leather cover secured in her left arm.

"...thank-you for noticing that... I need a hand here...please?" Vim tried a little shakily.

The little girl stared at him openly; her expression was as animated as a wall. "I thought you need a book."

"Thank-you for remembering that, too... I could use the hand and the book, please...!" he tried again, noticing the golden sparks shimmering from the book in the girl's hand.

Rianka cocked her head to the left, the still expression on her face unnerved Vim but he somehow knew she didn't mean any harm.

"...'Kay." she eventually said flatly, and before Vim could ask what she was going to do, she grabbed him by the collar from behind and easily pulled him up as she walked up along the dangling rope and pushed the speechless gaping boy through the narrow airway again while she stayed inside.

"Don't leave the rope there." she said in closure tone once the boy was completely outside, and the book was thrown to his laps.

Vim was, as common sense wasn't on his debating side right now, gaping his mouth wide with pale moronic face, and couldn't even find a proper word to say that he just realized he didn't bring any cutting device with him.

The-cat stared him making funny forms with his mouth; without changing her expression she threw a kitchen knife at him out of nowhere, it landed on the roof almost stabbing the boy's left thigh, and as he screamed again she turned around and left him. Walking down the invisible ward erected on the outer-side of the circular railing of the hidden space -which was the center-side of the tower void, she glanced at a single book left open on one of the shelves; the pages was empty of writings, and it closed by itself with a silent puff, the red velvet cover then grayed and the book turned to stone.

Outside, Vim was still making panicked incoherent sounds as he tried to cut the rope and fled his crime scene.

". . . the present Crimsonstar is funny...!" she commented flatly and disappeared.

* * *

><p>The furnace was burning warmly, and the phonograph was playing his favorite crystal records; Treize took a sip of his blue wine and hummed the song along with the singer's voice. Nodding his head a little at the music while closing his eyes, his hand blindly sought the fruit bowl for some cherries but he took some bat-berries instead.<p>

As the berries dove into the blue liquid, the-cat materialized on his left shoulder.

"...had a fun walk, didn't you, Riankitten?" Treize smiled without opening his eyes. Rianka stared at the blue liquid inside the wineglass turning a sickly black as the bat-berries oozed out its color.

"Why is that?" the-cat asked flatly, _his_ expressionless face didn't change.

Treize chuckled enjoying the fact the he knew; "...you have a large beastly grin plastered on your face...!"

Rianka tinkered whether _he_ should pointed out that Treize had put some bat-berries into his wine, but decided that it didn't matter since the man seldom opening his eyes in this kind of condition.

"...found yourself a new toy, Kitten?" Treize sipped his wine again, "...hmmm, a cute tabby, perhaps?"

"You care?" the-cat asked while eyeing the phonograph, the singer's high pitched voice grated on _his_ cat-ears.

"Having a tomcat is troublesome at times, if you know what I mean..." Treize smiled.

"I've _shrunk_ to your size of preference." the-cat said matter-of-factly.

"I didn't prefer a _little girl_; thanks to you people see me as a pedophile...!" Treize frowned a little; his lips were still smiling while nodding to the song.

The-cat snorted and curled _his_ tails around Treize's neck, hugging his blonde head and used it as a pillow while staring at the fire in the furnace which made _him_ sleepy, _his_ cat-ears pulled behind tiredly.

"Anything worth reported to me, Kitten?"

About the things happening in Gertt... Or about one particular baby in Darque finding his laughter... Or about some dream-spirit having its eyes grudgingly set on Treize for what was happening to a certain person...

The-cat blinked sleepily and mumbled, "I saw a crimson star..."

"The bloody-star, or the star of courage?" Treize asked, his nodding had stopped but his smile only bloomed wider.

"hmmm... funny star." the-cat mumbled with eyes closed.

"Odin knew?"

"...star doesn't know..." the-cat's words slurred and Treize knew his Familiar had fallen to sleep almost immediately after _he_ closed _his_ eyes, like usual; that meant nothing to worry about, that everything's still under control.

He smiled satisfactorily and snapped his fingers twice, the phonograph sound turned down and the record changed to a whispery wind-song, the-cat's favorite lullaby. Rianka purred to the tranquil sounds and melted to Treize's laps while flapping _his_ wings as _his _body transformed to a slender black cat with wings on its temple. Treize patted _his_(1) fur distractedly until he himself fell to sleep; his numb fingers forgotten about the wine glass still in his other hand and let the glass gave the thick carpet a good-night kiss.

They slept peacefully while the sickly black liquid of the wine melted the floor with a silent hiss, just in front of the stone statue of a sun model recently taken from a certain dome top.

* * *

><p>Duo moaned when the building shook again, something collided with the wall somewhere and now that something sounded like it was making a mess on the second floor. Breathing hard, he tried to cover his ears so he won't hear those loud sounds, the bestial screeches, the explosions, the broken things, the screams...<p>

The window near the stage exploded with fiery smoke and rained shards and splinters inside. Duo moaned harder at how close it was according to his swaying senses.

"...Damn it! That's our window, you prick! Aim better...!"

In his personal twister he thought he heard a girl's voice said that, although it was surging and ebbing like a voice heard in a stormy sea. Then something pulled his upper arm; not being able to see and sense, Duo was terrified and could only scream while struggling, trying to keep away whatever it was there from reaching Heero that was under his stooping body.

"DUO, STOP! It's meee! Stop itt!"

There were long things battling his frantic hands, and a splash of cool water on his face. Duo tried to wheeze in some air into his burning lungs and the water choked his airway, he tried to breathlessly cough it out but his airway failed.

"Try to calm down; panicking will only make it worse...!"

His body was pulled up and his head was pressed onto something soft. The ground shook again and broken things rained down from the ceiling; his instinct told him to flee the place and he tried to struggle again, although this time his limbs didn't obey his command.

"It's alright! Breathe in slowly...!" the girl's voice sounded nearer this time, something cool was dabbed on his closed eyes, the liquid seeped through his eyelids and burned his eyes, he moaned in pain while trying to shake his head.

"You'll be able to see after this, please bear with it...!" the girl said in emergency, and Duo didn't have any choice left since he couldn't do anything else besides surrendering; anyway, his airway had worked better after he tried calming down.

"Can you breathe?" she asked. Duo nodded letting out a shaky breath. "Alright, this is water; drink as much as you can...!" she put a water bottle lid to his lips and Duo complied, coughing painfully several times and tried again, spilling water on himself and her.

A halve-mask was put covering his lower face after that, it was fitted with sharp smelling things that shot out penetrating his burning nervous system into his brain with only a single breath. The sensation jerked his body visibly and he tried to struggle in panic again.

The girl's hands kept his arms down, "It's drug, but you need it to travel down...!" she reasoned.

Duo moaned his objection and the small vibrations sent mind-breaking quakes into his brain, he saw red sparks exploding behind his eyelids and his nostrils felt like they were invaded by a colony of monster-ants, and his airway melted and drown his lungs in his own blood... but probably it wasn't that bad physically, or else he'd died by now... right? So he rode that torture until it ebbed to a tamer level and his body felt the gravitation pull again... including the shaking building... and that steady beat of a heart near his ear...

"...hey... you okay?" the girl smiled in relief when he cracked open an eye; but his vision was still foggy and the air stung his eyes. He closed his eyes again with a pained frown. "Take your time a little longer. It's alright..." she encouraged while patting the back of his head.

Duo felt like a baby then, but he had no choice.

Another explosion on the ceiling, and that something going berserk on the second floor fell down together with the broken materials. The girl squeaked in alarm and fearfully brought Duo's body to duck, covering Heero's body that was half laid on Duo's laps.

". . . Renn?" Duo tried shakily; he'd never imagine Myrica to squeak.

"Sssshh. It's alright, that beast got shot by some sedative drugs... it just takes some time to take effect...!" she assured with a shaky whisper.

The beast thrashed and flailed for a long moment, Duo could only hear it by the sounds it made, all the while being aware of Renn's trembling. Didn't she say her village was destroyed by beasts?

The sounds gradually stopped and Renn's trembling lessened too, she let out a sigh.

"...it's good now..." Duo tried.

"Yes, the beast is down...!" she said a shaky relief.

"No... I mean me..." Duo tried again.

Her trembling instantly stopped as she caught what he meant; slowly releasing her arms from around his upper body, she let him go while inching backward with a beet red face... she was pressing Duo's head onto her chest, after all.

She refused to meet Duo's eyes, and mumbled "Sorry..." in the same time as Duo's "Thank-you". There was an awkward moment but the situation didn't let them have the luxury of having it stretched long enough for some bonding; the already broken front doors were smashed into pieces by another falling beast. Renn was gaping in horror in only two seconds span, and she fast regained her senses to pull at Duo's braid urging him to follow her.

"Let's go, take your friend, hurry!"

"Wait...!" Duo only had enough time to take Heero's limp body on his back before he realized most of the building was raining on them.

* * *

><p>". . . . . .-owh!"<p>

It was dark and cramped, and whatever underneath his body felt sticky and hard. He frowned about the sticky part, trying to move his face away from the rough surface. The halve-mask was still attached to his face, so he couldn't smell it if that sticky thing was blood gluing his face side to the ground; he frowned deeper when frowning hurt. His temple must have bled, he summed up; or... it couldn't be Heero's blood, right? Now that he realized Heero's body was still on his back and his back didn't hurt at all from all the broken things rained in on them.

Groaning, he tried to move his body, whispering out Heero's name frantically. He could tell that Heero was still in one piece, he just couldn't tell if he was hurt. "...Heero!" he called out in frustration at the fact that he couldn't find enough room to lie Heero down from his back, he could just blindly crawl forward bringing Heero along.

"Duo, is that you?!" Renn's anxious voice called out from underneath him.

"Renn? Where-..."

"I'm sorry! I just had enough time to throw myself inside before the ceiling collapsed...!" she knocked the surface underneath Duo repeatedly to tell him where she was. "I'm down here! Is the door blocked? Can you find it?"

Duo groaned. "It's dark and... I can't move a lot..."

"But that means you still can move, right...?" she tried encouragingly, and knocked harder. "Here, can you follow the sound? There should be an insignia of this stage carved on the stone floor, can you reach it?"

Duo searched with his hand, the knocking sounds didn't sound that far away; fighting his way under some debris and tried to fit Heero along took much of his leftover strength, he coughed up and the building frustration almost make him cry, and then his fingers found that carving. With euphoria he yelled and dragged their bodies onto that block of floor.

"Duo, you're there? Brace yourselves, alright?!" that's the only warning he got when the four sides of the block exploded and the ground fell down.

The block landed hard after the short fall, it knocked the air out of Duo's lungs; some small debris followed him down, and Renn was instantly at their sides cleaning off those fragments from their hunched bodies.

"You okay? You're not hurt much, right?" she asked while Duo groaned at her patting hands because his body hurt all over.

"Ughh... you could've warned me about the fall beforehand?" he objected.

Renn actually giggled; "Good, you're okay! We have no time, let's go...!" she helped Duo to stand and turned around to lead the way.

"Wait, my friend-...!"

"-is not hurt! So, let's go!" she urged in a hurry, the stone walls bounced her voice back in echoes.

Duo took a deep breath and pushed his legs to move; the chamber was of rough stairs spiraling down, like the ones in a tower. It appeared to be the inside of the stone pillar, and he realized that the hollow space was made by carving into the stone.

"Who... who made this?" he half-consciously asked out, his mind vaguely pictured some cave trolls carved the stones with only crooked chisels hammering with their bare bulky fists.

Renn looked behind a little; "The Diggers." she said, sounded almost proud. "Come on, don't fall behind. These stairs are made into several paths through different doors, it's like a maze; there are certain mechanisms to open the doors, once a door closed it won't open again until some conditions are met... so, outsiders wouldn't risk it to use these routes to flee the uptown...!" she explained while keeping a sliding wall open.

Well, that would explain why there were some people trying their fates on the suspension bridges instead of some escape routes, they must be newcomers. Duo could hear distant sounds traveling through the stone walls and stairs... it appeared they were not the only ones using that pillar's down-routes.

". . . do people get lost down here?" Duo asked half-troubled.

Renn only chuckled to answer that. Duo frowned; in the back of his mind, a small voice asked him since when did she call him by name, she was still calling him 'Miss' the last time he met her that afternoon.

After passing through some doors and windows, he could hear a billowing sound vibrating the stones. "Are we close to the exit?" he asked, his heart beat nervously in his chest, his mind had played some worst scenarios waiting for them after each next step he took, and behind every opened door he passed; though they had yet to become real. His charms had fallen into cessation right after the first door in the down-routes closed behind him. It seemed the stones of that place were the kinds that obstruct charms' merits, not like he was depending on them to find his safe way, though; he tried to sooth his anxiety with the thought, but probabilities usually played one's preparation in the worst way.

A cold gust of wind hit the visible part of his face suddenly, and a heavy milky fog assaulted his vision. He closed his eyes with a moan as his eyes felt the sharper burns, he wondered if his sight will be impaired after this ordeal. Right after thinking that, the stone door closed abruptly behind him and pushed him out with a jolt; the surprise brought his mind to realize that Renn was nowhere around.

A surge of panic seized his heart, something was not right; and just then he realized that Myrica wouldn't have taken off Heero's shawl and left him on the bed like that, she knew the reason why the shawl was covering Heero's head, and if she wanted to sell the demon she'd just take him while Duo was unconscious. It must have been someone else, someone who'd have seen Heero long enough to be curious about the demon. And that person would be...

A long howl from skyward jerked Duo and he searched for the door again, but as Renn said, once the door was closed strangers wouldn't be able to discern it; Duo che-ed and looked up, trying to see if anything came flying in the fog. The sound of the howl seemed half muted by the heavy fog, as if the white air was thick enough to muffle it, so he hoped that by some miracle it would be thick enough to keep the beasts from charging at them or smelled them. But miracle wasn't on his side tonight; several flapping sounds mocked his hope, they were slow and heavy...somewhat wet, probably from the dense vapor...but wouldn't that meant that the thing had been flying for sometimes in the fog? Considering that it had, it might get hungry to swallow anything moving by now, and the poisonous air might not have enough effect on beasts... and it probably wouldn't be tired enough to be able to be taken down by a single person.

Right then a thought crossed his mind; if only Heero's wire-wings could work on a beast too-

A loud crash jerked him to the here and now; that wasn't from above, his mind alerted him. Some more sounds came from some distance around them... heavy metal scrapings on stones, heavy footsteps, some rock-grinding gurgles that could be laughter or some messed-up language unknown to his ears...

DIGGERS!

His mind drew out the word in Renn's voice. He gritted his teeth in panic as he recalled what kind of creatures might have the ability to hole out such massive stone pillars-...

A cool fabric covered his eyes from behind and Duo froze, he could feel a slender hand through the cloth trembling a little, soft breaths beside his ear.

"...Duo..." the whisper was spoken slowly and carefully, "...DON'T touch the chains on the fences, _they_ could see you through the sounds as if seeing you in broad daylight...!"

Now that he thought about it, the fabric smell was familiar.

The cover was pulled slowly from his eyes, and Duo took a second before opening them and glanced at his side. It was Renn, and she had the spare cloak that he'd put on Heero, alright; she had a serious look in her eyes and put her index finger on her tight lips.

He didn't know what else to do so he nodded slowly once, albeit hesitantly. Renn narrowed her eyes in an almost smile. Her air was not soothing; he knew something was bad...

"I was waiting for a Knight or a Blessed-one to come to my rescue..." she started silently, "...but when one eventually comes, he chose a demon instead...!"

Duo snapped his face to her, seeing a dark glint swirling in her visible eye under the cloak hood.

"But I guess you rescue me anyway..." she smiled cynically.

Swallowing hard once, Duo tried to formulate something in his head but his tongue was numb, and his throat probably cared more about inhalation than exhalation right now.

The girl chuckled a little watching the wild stare in Duo's eyes. "Fufuu...Sorry, it's just a little payback for this..." and she winked.

Her eyes drooped in a real smile this time, seeing Duo's incomprehension. "Well, ...it's just that I'm not _the_-damsel-in-distress for you, right...?" she pulled back her upper body and stared at Duo in a cute understanding almost-naive way; openly...not the timid-clumsy Renn he met in the inn working as a maid.

There's something about her that looked grand; a discreet prideful bearing. And it's not just because she had a cloak with tinkling crystal beads and flowing feathers fastened on the side of the hood covering her head. Or because she had a nice dress with beautiful embroideries and shawls with pretty tassels swaying in the dark air...

She must be wearing her best outfit, that's why she disappeared just then...to change her clothes, Duo thought. And that she had them in such a situation could only meant a couple of possibilities and-

A dark realization hit Duo; "-Renn...!" But there's only one reason why she would wear the demon's cloak, the one that visibly was on Heero when he brought the demon out of Myrica's wagon, and when he stood frozen in front of the playhouse with the demon on his back. He should have realized it without needing Myrica to word it to him back then...

"Look after her...?" the girl said and Duo's words died in his throat when he realized that she still thought the demon was a female, and the possibility that she might change her mind if she knew the truth... a painful frost seized his heart and he whimpered and dropped his head.

"Okay, that's good enough for me...!" Renn smiled again, gentler; she might have taken Duo's action as something along acquiescence or gratefulness. "Now, go straight that bridge and don't look back!"

She pointed to a suspension bridge hidden by the rocks formation. "You won't have the chance to look back, anyway...!"

Duo stared into the thick fog and could only make the bridge's suspension wires for about a couple of them in the dark. He snapped his head to the girl again, pleadingly; his conscience wanted to tell her the truth, but his darker side of mind reminded him that the Palace Demon would be the grandest prize for some struggling outlaws compared to any demon in that land; and he bit his tongue and fled to the bridge just as the scrapping sounds sounded nearer.

"It's heeere...!" the girl called out through the fog. "THE DEMON IS HEEERE!"

Duo gasped and stopped, but realized that Renn's voice was getting farther away from him; the rattling chains told him that she might be on another suspension bridge, making unnecessary sounds so that whatever creatures the Diggers were would chase her instead of them.

A loud inhuman hoarse howl jerked Duo into motion again; it was followed by another, and more. The sounds of the rattling chains sounded hasty and Duo could only imagine her running fearfully for her life somewhere getting away from them.

He whimpered and closed his eyes, and ran as fast as he could; leaving his conscience behind...and the sounds of a girl's short shriek and the rattling broken chains, a long victorious gurgling howl, and an ear-deafening beastly screech; and before he thought to stop and look back, there was the sudden jerk pulling at the bridge and the lashing motion almost sent him flying as the bridge thrown up by the impossible force.

Duo grunted and held onto the plank of the bridge when it came down, and the distance as it swung in the air told him that the bridge was broken. He mumbled a curse and braced himself for the impact on whatever wall waiting on the opposite side. At least he hoped the length of the remaining bridge didn't reach the bottom of the valley, now that he remembered the view of the pincushion rock structures he saw from Gertt's stone bridge.

A long clear scream in horror reached Duo's ears; either it was Renn falling down from the bridge or she was captured in some beast's talons flying away from there; there were some gurgling howls too but his ears didn't care about them.

"...no!" he widened his eyes, and lost his breath when his body hit a hard jaggy wall. The broken bridge made some clattering sounds when the loose planks hit the stone and fell away. The lax suspension rope started to slip the plank he held onto and Duo reflexively kicked the wall to find some footing to lessen his weight and mustered all his willpower staring wide-eyed at the piece of wood to make it stop slipping.

A small jagged rock provided a footing for his left toes, and Duo froze and held his breath, as if he could be somewhat lighter by doing so. The plank slipped for a couple centimeters down and stopped awkwardly. After several seconds it didn't move, Duo allowed his lungs to work again, his effort came out in short shallow breaths and the half-mask on his face didn't help much to relief his constricted lungs.

There were several other beasts flew above the area, close enough that he could feel the gush of air as they flapped their wings; some commotion followed in the distance behind. Apparently some of those Diggers were still around trying to get away from the beasts' reach, but Duo's concentration was to his right hand holding on to the imbalanced plank and his left hand holding the demon on his back, and his left toes almost giving up.

"...-sh't!" he cursed silently holding back tears, hoping he could grow out a couple more arms from his back to climb up.

His still numb fingers started slipping on the plank, slippery by the nervous sweat; while the plank started slipping from the lax rope again... Heero's body was slipping from his back too.

"Noooo! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplea sepleasepleassse-!" he begged as the rope loosened and he closed his eyes; his ears heard a sharp swishing sound and felt a sharp sting around his right wrist accompanied with a hiss; and all he could realized was his small footing broke and the sting tightened to an immense pain in loops and the jerk that felt like tearing off his arm from his shoulder, his surprised left arm lost Heero's weight... and he was in the air, and Heero should be in the air too.

He landed on his back with a pained grunt, when he opened his eyes in reflex the sight of Heero's body flying towards him greeted his blurry eyes. Duo caught him as much as he could; the demon was mostly landed on him, though he'd probably complain about some bruises later; but that much of fact was more than enough... he thought he might die when he lost the demon's body back then... he didn't know what happened, the fall to the bottom might have been shorter than he thought...! That, and perhaps some Gods thought he didn't deserve that bad a karma to have landed on some pointy rocks too! He hadn't realized that he was hugging the demon jubilantly in a way that the demon might complain if only he was awake.

"Okay, enough drama, let's get moving!" the stern a little annoyed voice should belong to...

"Myricaa!" Duo squealed reflexively, and the girl stomped on his face reflexively. She squatted down in an instant and grabbed Duo's face before he could complain about it.

"Shush! Do you want to call the beasts to ussss?!" she whispered with a hard tone, a couple of arteries popped on her temples.

Duo blinked wide-eyed for some long seconds, staring at her strong eyes and found his strength back in her unwavering air; ...he was so desperate a few moments ago.

Myrica stood up in front of the still standing anchor posts of the broken bridge and inspected the area, frowning when she heard a flock of flying beasts just passed by above the space. Duo took the time to inspect himself and his surrounding; they were on some walking path carved on the cliff wall, the demon was in one piece albeit still unconscious, and his body started to get all senses back... and that made the graze wounds around his right arm felt more than they normally would.

He couldn't suppress a moan from surfacing.

"Ah, sorry! I was thinking to find something gentle enough to be used in this kind of situation, but still couldn't find one...!" she turned to Duo and bandaged the bleeding wounds.

"...S'alright... I should thank you for saving our lives..." Duo tried and grunted when she tied the bandage too tight. "-H... how do you know we're here...?"

"There are not that many exit routes from the pillar Gerttward, so I speculated the area you'd come out from and had my antlers sniffed you out to find the right bridge." she stood up, "Though that one-beast did the rest...!"

". . . ooh... that beast that broke the bridge...?" Duo embraced Heero's body and tried to stand, and fell half way. Myrica readily caught him from behind, circled her arms around his ribs like carrying a kid, and started to walk up the sloping path.

Duo widened his eyes with a flushed face, "D-... don't you think this is a BIT awkward...?!" he flustered. A group-hug would be better than that arrangement...

"Just make sure you don't drop _your-friend_ again!"

Duo shut his mouth tight at that.

"Or you'd rather I drag you on the ground...?" she said it like she was giving him another option and it lightened his lurching mood.

"This's fine!" he answered fast childishly; and he could feel her smirked in satisfaction without actually seeing it. The walking paths were carved into zigzagging slopes up, and he couldn't belief how far down he'd been travelling in the pillar's exit route; Myrica stopped half way up on the wider path where her antlers were waiting.

"Where's your wagon...?" though he didn't really need to hear the answer.

"Left it in the stable; it's too heavy for a fast ride!" she said coolly letting Duo stood beside one of the antlers. Her baggage had lessened considerably and he felt a concern that she might have left some because of them.

"...I'm sorry... your baggage..." he tried when the older girl fastened the flies of her black cloak she put on him.

"My baggage?" she looked at his eyes, "Oh, that! No, those were some deliveries I took on the way here; I had someone got them here this afternoon, before I took a nap..."

Duo blinked as she put the hood covering his head. "...when the playhouse was closed after your fight and had a fight with the Mama...!" he half grimaced to himself.

"Hahah! Yeah, that time!" she grinned and patted his head good humored-ly; it made Duo guessed about her shady jobs and what kind of package that needed discretion in delivery. So she used them as a cover, too; that lightened his guilt. "Okay...!" she started with a serious stare.

"This girl is Alata, she's faster than Cama over there when it comes to escaping...!" she patted the antler's side behind Duo, leaving a palm mark on the animal's fluffy fur. He glanced at the animal's eye glancing back at him and knew what would happen after this.

"I can't rob you of-" Duo tried and stopped when she put her palm on his face again.

"I never deliver anything halfway, unless the intended person could take it before I reach the meeting place. So I'm sending you with my girl...!" she rubbed Alata's body with a stern look at him. Duo knew she wouldn't take no for answer.

"Up there is Gertt!" she pointed with her chin, "They'd be in high alert from the attacking beasts; they'll shoot anything that moves, including humans! Why do you think Mainstay is outside of the gate...?"

Duo blinked at that piece of info, his sore head already complaining about the things he didn't want to mind anymore than that.

"I'll open a way for you; you just concentrate on getting to the Palace alive, or at least let _your-friend_ get there in one piece! If the war breaks because of this incident, ...this Kingdom won't survive being in its present state!" she said seriously; Duo swallowed and nodded. "There'll be beasts chasing you, too; so you have to-"

"I know!" Duo frowned.

Myrica nodded once, satisfied at seeing Duo's determination, and helped him got Heero sitting in front of him on the antler's back; he wouldn't risk losing the demon the second time or getting him hurt behind him. "My antlers are experienced in hunt-fields, so they could defend themselves to some extent; although I told Alata to focus on sending you to the Palace... oh, and don't touch her horns!"

"I'll see you in King's City!" she said fast and jumped onto Cama's back, putting the crossing stylized pickaxes from her back to the holsters at either sides of the saddle in one swift move; the milky crystals on the heads shimmered dimly. It caught his attention and got him wondering what kind of tool she'd used to pull him and the demon from the broken bridge down there, she didn't seem to have anything resembled a rope or long things with her.

* * *

><p>The gates of Gertt were tall and daunting; they were made to fend off anything that might come crossing the stone bridge, the thick metal was said even thick enough to hide an adult's dead body in it. There were even spooky urban legends about how the gates were made. Duo looked up tracing their exterior with his stinging eyes, the bolts were even bigger than his fist and some of them had rusted and bled out the metal-blood down the dark surface. The sight was kind of creepy in its own value, Duo was hoping to find a warning carved on the barbican's wall somewhere saying something along the line 'enter and die'.<p>

"Something's wrong..." Myrica whispered in alert; Duo stared at her back. "The gates are open!"

And there was no light or fire on the gate's fortress, the night was blind and the fog was enveloping everything. "...no one's supposed to be here?" Duo asked tentatively, tightened his hold around Heero's body on his front, he was scared and in a way he was hugging himself.

"The city is built into the ground, so people are underground. The gates guards should be operating their weapons from there...!" Myrica pointed to the black holes in the curtain wall and turrets, "The parapets were occupied when there are no attacking beasts, but in this case..." she paused and glanced back at the night sky that wasn't visible for now.

"...the fog is kind of unusual, too; it had never been this dense for over 10 years... if not, I'd warned you about the night air!" she didn't sound defensive so Duo didn't think that she was covering up her negligence. "The beast that ripped off the bridge was unknown to this area, too!" Myrica leaned down to Duo's ear and he could see something lit up in her eyes. "What did you hear before the bridge broke?"

Duo blinked and didn't question about the need to rush their way; "...loud... flapping sound..." he started, "I thought it sounded wet somehow...!"

Myrica nodded. "That beast is called Dragontwig, the wings flapping sounded wet because its wings are membranes, almost like thick human skin; it's a type of flying Sauria...!"

Duo widened his eyes at her, didn't really know what to think with his delirious headache.

"Dragontwigs aren't dragons, but closest to resemble them. And they're cunning, like wolves; they won't attack human's dwellings knowing there'll be retaliation later. They hunt smaller beasts in their territory; and they're too prideful to be tamed...!" Myrica frowned. "I know a lot about them because they're native to my people's land. It's not supposed to come here, much less hunting here!"

Duo's mind pushed the memories of what he witnessed in the past days forward; about the fact that there's a Maggart he'd yet to see but definitely around, about the fact that there were a flock of Shadow-fishes in the human area he'd never thought he'd see with his own eyes... and that him being with the Palace Demon he'd never met before and being hunted together was a too convenient thing to be called a coincidence. But he kept silent...

Myrica steered Cama to enter the gap of the opened gates, it only allowed access for two adults to pass through. Duo kept feeling that this whole thing was a trap, but he had no choice than to follow Myrica anyway. The court of the barbican had stone floors, the walls were blotchy black colored, and there were ditches at either sides of the road with something resembled chimneys with hoods at some intervals alongside the channels.

"Duo, stay in the middle of the road...!" Myrica said flatly; she had one of the pickax in her left hand and several colorful glass marbles in her right. She carefully held out her right hand and with the pointy part of the pickax head, broke the red one. There were blazes burst up as the glass split, burning the flat part of the head up and lengthening it with scythe of flames. Its light also revealed that the clearing was besieged by beasts of varied sizes, waiting for any living thing coming through the gates. That's why the guards left their posts and fled underground...!

"Just gooo!" Myrica threw more glass marbles and with a swift strike broke them in the air; the mix color created an explosion of bright light and surprised the beasts before they could charge towards them, and Alata took off with a giant leap between the beasts' bodies and legs and wings and tails in an unbelievable speed.

Duo didn't have enough time to yell out his surprise, it happened so fast and he could only duck forward hugging the demon's body and hoped they wouldn't fall off. Myrica definitely had forgotten to inform him how fast an antler could go when it's not pulling some carts; he's going to complain to her later, he thought.

Some flying beasts waiting alongside the road came charging at them and the antler used them as footings to leap. Duo squealed while holding on to the front side of the saddle; forget trying to counterstrike the incoming attack, he only had hands to hold on for dear life. He knew they couldn't dodge forever, sooner or later they'll have to defend; and as he finished thinking that, a flailing beast tail managed a whack to his head. The thing was like a lizard's tail, thick and had erectable scales on its back line. The force wasn't that strong but it made Duo's already aching head felt like splitting; he gritted his teeth, knowing he'd bitten his tongue, but the pain didn't even registered in his throbbing brain. His hands gone numb again and with a sinking feeling he knew he was tumbling off the antler's back taking the demon along with him.

A shrill like a blowing whistle deafened his ears, and then a bright light assaulted his blurry eyes; he barely aware that his ride made a few bumps in the air, and suddenly he was slumped to his front hugging the antler's long neck, like having a threesome hug with the demon in the middle. The shrill sounded again, and this time he witnessed it was the antler howling up to the sky and changed its horns to accommodate it fending off the charging beasts; with dumbfounded look he stared as the antler, which he thought as a herbivore before, bit a beast in the neck with its pointy teeth and threw it to some other beasts, ripping the beast's neck open while at the same time slashing a flying beast in three with its shining horns.

Some blood splattered on Duo's face, but he saw that the one sliced into three parts wasn't bleeding, it was sizzling; and he realized that the light from the horns was energy, even more powerful than flames. And that Alata was compromising her movement so that her charges wouldn't fall off of her back, knowing Duo was never mounted her kind before. Duo's face flushed when he realized it; he'd even being taken care by an animal...! He felt ashamed and trying to free one hand so he could fend off some too, but the speed and bumps didn't let him to even think it again; a lamina of light covered his sides from the front as the horns changed shape again. The light seared anything that touched it from the outside; and it took several moments for Duo to fathom that Alata reacted to his thoughts.

She shrilled again, not slowing down at all; and Duo swore she was trying to speak to him, like encouraging him or scolding him for doing things halfheartedly. He smirked after finding out how they should work together; he patted the antler's neck softly and whispered, "I'll be counting on you, then, Alata...!"; and then focused his mind with new vigor.

Normally they'll reach King's City tomorrow evening or night; but with their speed, he roughly counted they should be there by morning with the attacking beasts taken into consideration. He just hoped the antler could hold up that long.

* * *

><p>Some tentative knocks heard on the wooden door; when the sounds weren't audible enough, they sounded bolder.<p>

Odin opened the door of his chamber, it was around 4 in the morning, yet he already had his uniform on.

"It... it's Vim, sir...!" the boy bowed, reporting himself although he didn't need to for the Commander could clearly see who it was; he was waiting for the boy anyway.

"I found this book, sir." Vim presented the book with both hands; keeping his face downward, feeling unnerved by the frown on Odin's face.

"What do you want in return?" Odin asked flatly.

"Sir...?" Vim was surprised and glanced up at Odin's face but instantly looked down again. "I wasn't doing it for..." his shaky words trailed off, of-course the man knew he'd do it for something in return.

"Look at me, boy!" Odin's voice hardened, it wasn't a bark but the boy jumped a little before complying. "You do know what you want, don't you?" Odin asked again slower.

When noticing that the man wasn't reprimanding him, the large blue eyes staring back at Odin's eyes looked bolder and shone brighter with confidence, so he was being -probably- recognized to some extent.

"My name is Vim, sir." he said with certainty this time. Odin smirked.

"So, Vim... What do you want in return?"

The boy blinked and his mind fled elsewhere for a short moment, when his eyes focused again he stared at Odin's eyes with brightness such a child should have. "I want the library, sir."

"The library?" Odin arched a brow.

"Umm... I mean, I want to have access to the Palace Library, sir...!" the boy flushed a little realizing the words he'd spoken before.

"Here's my pass. You want anything else?" Odin nonchalantly took a coin from a chain of random small things he had hanging from his waist band like a piece of accessory, and took the book from the boy's hands while handing the coin to him.

Vim stared at the black old coin in his hand, realizing that the Commander had a pass, after all; so why...?

"Going into the library will ruin my image, you know?" Odin smirked mockingly when the boy stared at him with incomprehension.

Vim sweat-dropped a little, at lost for words. "Ahh... I guess, if you need any more books, you can call me again, sir...?"

"I will." Odin agreed unashamedly, and added a couple of gold coins on the black coin. "Here, go buy some decent clothes!" he said closing the door.

"You don't want to wear dirty underwear when you got caught in an accident...!" Odin added through the closed door, and the boy could hear him chuckled as if finding something funny.

Vim stood unmoving in front of the door for some time, the three coins felt heavy on his opened palm; somehow he felt like he'd been played like a stringed doll, but his little mind said that he should be grateful that he now had a string attaching him to someone big in the Castle, wasn't that what he was aiming for from the beginning? Plus he got to see a glimpse of what the living mechanism the Palace had, he thought as he recalled the cat-girl again...

So the Palace still had magic-users inside it...! He left with a satisfactory smile on his face.

_The night worth it, after all._

* * *

><p>Odin stared at the black book he gripped in his right hand, it was heavy and light in the same time, like the weight tried to escape his grip again and again; and his eyes subconsciously strayed to the exposed wrist. He still felt the numbness, most likely Heero was unconscious out there; but for that sensation being there in the first place meant that he still had the connection. He pushed down the urgency for the time being<p>

. . . if Treize didn't make a fuss about Heero missing, then he should belief that the demon was on his way to come back to his side...one way or another. He was a demon who submitted himself to be a whole country's single potential-adversary, anyway; if he thought he could stand up against this kingdom by himself, then he could stand up against anything in this land too.

Right?

x - - - - - - - - x

x - - - - - - - - x

_(1) since Rianka is a male-cat Familiar looking like a girl, saru will use italic for typing the 3__rd__-person subject for the-cat; 'hope it's not too confusing... -sweats- _

saru's note:  
>if you see the date at the head of this chapter you'll notice it's read August; indeed it started on that date since saru thought to steal some time to type while in eating-time (again), and got <em>kualat<em> (again), by mid August saru got typhus (again); by early September dad was submitted to a hospital, and in short saru (and partner-in-crime) is LATE on the deadline... fortunately, the client of the game-development company are late on their schedule too; so we're not in tight lynch by now, though we're still facing our deadline... although the date became undetermined now...(?)  
>so saru thought to at least try finishing a chapter to make up for three months absent (though honestly, it's mostly due to the compulsion of three months worth of stress; need to get it out since saru had formulated a new fic in head just because there's no outflow, everything just flowing in and mind-scales need a balancing weight); ah, but we're relatively in positive mood lately -grin-<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

**Another **** -7 nov'12**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too._

**chapter 15**

_ *...they are beautiful and untainted;  
>they carry the worlds on their wings<em>

_they are loyal and unchanging;  
>they are what make us changed<em>

_If we call them righteous, then we will succumb to our dirty and disgraced passion  
>If we call them truth, then we will be admitting our corrupt and treacherous selves<br>If we admire them, then we will realize that we are lacking  
>If we yearn for them, then we will be unfulfilled<em>

_we cannot defeat ourselves; we are humans  
>...thus, we call them <strong>demons<strong> *  
><em>

Odin stared at the beautiful handwritten preface. He didn't expect to read such admission first thing on the first written page. No wonder this book was banned from the library, probably kept away from common knowledge too; suddenly he didn't feel like reading anymore, he got the major idea what the Ancestors wrote on that book already... it felt like reading your parents diary filled with dirty secrets in the worst detailed words, with beautiful hand-writings, even.

So, how much had the human's knowledge changed? It would be devastating to know that the demons they all knew and fear as evils were actually not demons at all, and that the humans were not the protagonists but the antagonists instead. It's like opening the window one morning and faced with the upside down world outside. The demons might have taken pride in bearing the loathed name 'demons', fully knowing that it was the humans way to say that they themselves were in denial and repulsive.

Odin realized when he read the words 'we will' over and over in the text that the Ancestors viewed their writings as the imminent-facts, so they had to bend the future; their present lives.

..._untainted, _and_ unchanging_... Odin frowned staring at the two words, he had always thought of his demon that way, and getting that verification in the Ancestors' admission only made him feel sad; because the book would tell him why that his world viewed Heero as anything but...

_*We want to sully them, so we sullied ourselves_-*

The first chapter's title stared at him in bold stylized letters; Odin groaned feeling a little nauseous. _Or this book was written by a frustrated demon-obsessed Ancestor_, he thought...

He decided that he didn't want to know what the Ancestors were doing with the history, he only wanted to know what's wrong with his demon; and flipped the pages randomly. To his dismay, the pages he cursorily turned were empty of writings; he paused and returned to the first page again, flipping the pages methodically, noticing that the writings were appearing in systematic lines.

"Aghhh! I should've known this book was written with magic...!" Odin stood and threw his arms in the air and stared down the book on his table as if it had challenged him to fight. He snorted and surrendered, if the book wanted him to read its content painstakingly, then he'd do it painstakingly... without missing a single word!

He read from the first line of the first title, pointing each line with his fore finger. There was a blank space where a year should be written and when his finger brushed over it a set of foggy numbers appeared in red, it stated a time over 4000 years ago. His brows arched at those numbers, noticing the last digit were shifty and less dense looking.

"Oh...! Convenient!" he admitted when he realized the book did the year-counting by itself. The earlier chapters of the book told stories about a beautiful world where the demons lived in; they had knowledge that the humans didn't have, and they created advanced things that the humans couldn't fathom. The first two chapters were written almost like a love-verse venerating the demon's world dreamily, and Odin could clearly tell that the writer was yearning for the world created by the demons, as they described it as if it was a utopia.

_*They are knowledgeable, so they taught us knowledge;  
>we are ignorant, so we thought them how to ignore.*<em>

-the third chapter closure line said; so at some point 4000 years ago, the demons and the humans were coexisting in peace. The demons had been assisting in many of the humans' life aspects. At one point they were called as 'The Teachers', and at another they were called 'The Guardians'; he couldn't tell whether there were many organizations in the demons' living system, that the writer was saying the demons as omnipotent creatures or whether there were systematic hierarchy in their social life depending on their skills or their usefulness. Odin frowned deeper, the last line seemed like a condemnation and he knew what to expect in the next chapters; it all went down from there.

*..._The Guardians are watching us with their unblinking eyes, wide as the sun never closed itself watching from the sky.*_

After that 'The Guardians' were written as 'The Watchers'; at first the humans presented their humble lives and selves just as they were, in hope the demons would give them their knowledge to help them improve; then the humans began to feel inferior and wanted their prideful life back, their egos didn't want to live in shame anymore, and they began to say that-

*..._if the demons find so many wrongs in our ways of living, then it must be the demons' way of living that are __**not**__ right;  
>that they are faulty for finding us at faults.*<em>

x - - - - - - - - x

_*And the first King stands up for his people.*_

-the sixth chapter began.

_*...and there are light and dark rising as one, as so the perfect demon rise in pairs; and the world is shifting to a new age.  
>And the Wraths counterbalance themselves in greater rage, and the world starts over.<br>We ask for divine acknowledgment and get divine retribution on our behalf, because we are faulty for not admitting our own faults,  
>and we recycle our denials into justifications, and our lives to deaths -as they recycle our deaths to lives,<br>because they are alive and dead at the same time._

x - - - - - - - - x

_And the first Maxwell rise from their leftovers,  
><strong>I<strong>__ -rise from the memories of their smiles and gentle kindness,  
>scraping at the rubles and digging into the mud;<br>hoping to see that they will open their arms again..._

_And __**I**__ -feel content in the possibility of a future where there is only one me standing before their Last  
>...so we can start over this cycle; <em>

_and __**I**__ -will rise with a new name, or nameless, even_

_But __**I**__ -will forever hold the name of their Last,  
>because it is my Beginning,<br>my Life...  
>my World<br>my existence._

_Let it be my End.  
>May <em>_**I-**__?*_

The next page stayed empty after that, it was only a little over 1/3 through the book. Odin stared with a dumbfounded look, speechless for finding the fact that the book was written by the first Maxwell, and that the first Maxwell was in love with the demons...or the Last demon, or whatever; or should he say _will_ fall in love...?

So it wasn't only his sarcasm saying that the first chapters were a love verse, after all.

He did make some pointers, though; 'the perfect demons rise in pairs', for example; or 'my Life' as the writer said it should be the Last (demon). Heero did say his Life as if it was a person; he was actually joking when he said it was Heero's fiancé.

'_Life'_ _was a person... the Last Demon...? There couldn't be the Last if there were still many demons out there, _he pondered.

-or could it be that the demons they knew now were not the same demons as written in the book?

_the leftovers_... his mind pointed; if it meant not as things but as living beings -demons-, then the Maxwells were turning rubles -of society- and digging into mud -as in secluded places?- in search for...

"...the perfect demons...!" Odin whispered; _the Last of the perfect demons_, his mind repeated. _Was that mean Heero is...-?_

Or maybe not, wasn't that a too convenient of a conclusion? He at least concluded that _Life_ meant _an important_ _somebody_ and that he/she had connection with Heero, regardless whether Heero's Life and the Life in that book were one and the same.

-_no! That's not right, something's missing_; he thought again.

The book was saying of the Last of the perfect demons... and Heero said his Life was still in the Demon Kingdom... and the book said perfect demons rose in pairs... and that meant...

"Heero and his Life are perfect demons...?" Odin mumbled; no, that's still not right. _Heero and his Life __**is**__ a perfect demon_, his mind emphasized; _as in, __**only**__ as a pair...!_

Odin closed the book abruptly with a puff.

That would explain why they were separated...because together they'd be a great threat, even to the Demon Kingdom itself.

_Getting rid of a harmful weapon, aren't we?_ Odin smirked. And if need be, they could trigger Heero using his Life that was in their mercy; blackmailing him without making him feel like he was being blackmailed at all, making him thinking he was only carrying out his duty and at the same time ensuring his Life's safety, right? Maybe they're doing the same with his Life there. Heero did say that his Life didn't know his whereabouts; that his Life didn't know that he was being exiled into the humans' hands.

"You dirty leftoversss...!" Odin growled with a hiss at the end. But what good would that do? Unless they're sure that a perfect demon wasn't needed until-

Was that mean that the Maxwells had become a too great peril...?

They realized it too, the Maxwells; that's why they all committed suicide about 15 years ago, to protect this Kingdom from the demons' paranoia. And the demons brought Heero as a token of truce because they feared his capability...? Or for ensuring he could be in the right place to launch a deadly attack...

"Damn! I hate politics...!" Odin massaged his temples, took the book and threw it offhandedly onto his bed and covered it with his pillow. He did say that his demon had the right to destroy this Kingdom, but only if he wanted to, not because he was blackmailed to... Perhaps he should have protected his demon more.

With a loud bang he closed his chamber door; he thought he'd just eat his breakfast in the mess hall today, probably abducted the cook from his bed and stared him to death while he was preparing the meal too.

. . . _that sounds like a good plan_, he snorted to himself.

* * *

><p>Duo groaned in exhaustion. The antler had stopped changing her horns, they're not shining anymore, and she was concentrating on just running. Duo shook his head each time his eyes dimmed; he didn't think that focusing his will to the antler would take up much of his mental strength. He felt more tired than to run his own escape; he listed more complaint to say to the barbarian girl.<p>

Alata let out a shrill braying sound, almost sounded like a high-pitched chuckles. Duo patted her neck; "I know you're tired too. The King's City is behind that mountain, let's do our best; just a little more...!" he encouraged the exhausted antler, she answered with a low cry; the flock of beasts tailing them letting out their spirited cries as well.

Duo sweat-dropped; "_You_ don't have to...!" he complained in his heart. A great-crow and a pair of whipping-vultures dove at them, "Concentrate on running, Alata...!" Duo whispered to the antler and glanced at the breaking dawn. The great-crow was hovering above them, he could tell by its shadow on the ground; the whipping-vultures opened their talons and tried some lashings with their tails. Duo held the rein with the left hand he also used to hold Heero's body; he swung his right hand at the opposite side of the incoming beasts and the first vulture squawked in surprise when its legs caught by a long black chain bent in a great arch from Duo's right wrist behind and around him. He pulled the chains a little and the jerk startled the vulture that it instinctively flapped its wings and lashed its tails in panic and drove the other whipping-vulture away.

He let the beast go when he thought it had learnt to stay away from them in a safe distance. He'd been doing that for the last couple of hours that his right arm felt like it's about to come off of his shoulder, but he knew when they're nearer the King's City the beasts would chase them with renewed hunger. He would need more effort than to just surprise them; he che-ed in disapproval, he didn't like hurting animals, much less killing them.

...because he could kill them easily and effortlessly... if only Myrica knew; or that girl Renn...

"...only if you have to...!" he muttered to himself; though he still couldn't accept what line separating the 'have to' and the 'not have to', he was afraid that if he drew the line and crossed it, then he would get used to do it even with the humans... or demons.

"Please just stay away from me... please?" he muttered again and hoped the distance to the King's City could be less than it actually was.

* * *

><p>Odin stared at his right hand with a deep dissatisfied frown; the other soldiers on the parapet left him alone fearing his wrath, they'd seen his unhappy expression more than often and knew that wearing such dark frown like now meant he's about to snap even by a slightest approach.<p>

Cail frowned too from one of the towers of the gate; he knew Odin would be agitated in his condition but watching him unmoving for over an hour staring at his hand was kind of bizarre. This morning the General had called him and his men to inform them about the ranking, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander for a failure in carrying his task; he felt offended although he didn't show it outside... so he declined. His men, having him declined his promotion, had declined theirs too.

The General was only chuckling neutrally, like always; sometimes he'd question the blonde's meaning, self-conscious that the General was even younger than himself but posing such a grand presence.

"Are you alright, Sir?" Cail decided to divert his mind and approached Odin, having a yelling or two from the older man might be good for him too right now, for beating his inferiority complex or his self-pity down; for some reasons Odin was his role-model after all, the father he never had, though he would never admit it verbally.

"Sir?!" Cail tapped Odin's upper arm when the man didn't seem to register him being there, already welcoming the explosion... which never come.

That definitely signified something was wrong; the soldiers said Odin had been there from around 5AM, and stood there unmoving facing the gate-road to the city. He knew Odin was waiting for the demon to come back, that part made him felt responsible, he too was waiting for the young master to arrive.

". . . how about you?" Odin muttered breathily. Cail was somewhat caught off guard and didn't really sure if it was Odin talking, until the man's eyes shifted to him and stared from the ends of his eyes.

"Oh...! I'm alright, Sir; the healers said so!" he knew his face was flushed; something in Odin's eyes felt different, it was almost lustful not like his usual cold gaze.

"And your men?"

"Yes! Nothing to worry about, Sir!" Cail tapped his right foot at the ready; which earned him an arching brow from Odin for his suddenly formal attitude. "Sir! Is everything alright, Sir?" he asked again.

Odin almost grimaced with a sore expression. "What's with you? You're annoying suddenly...!" And that was while his wrists felt like they'd come off anytime soon; he could only imagined what Heero felt right now. He sighed deeply and stared back at his hand.

"...I'm about to lose my hands..." Odin said flatly, with calm acceptance in his voice.

"...Sir?" Cail asked reflexively in incomprehension.

* * *

><p>The King's City was encircled by its citizens' farms outside its wall, thus the barrier was set several kilometers from the farms outer edge. Duo had recognized the stones of which they set the barrier-spell in from afar, since his tired eyes were desperately searching for those stones. With a triumphant squeal he tapped Alata's neck, giving her the boost of spirit; "...we'll be there soon, girl...!"<p>

The antler was too exhausted to make a sound, her spit was slobbering her mouth down to her neck, and Duo knew it was only about time she fell from overexertion. Once they entered the City barrier they'd be able to slow down a little, so he hoped; but he was expecting the beasts behind their tails would took a last plunge on them before that. So he readied himself, fisting his hand so tight that his knuckle felt numb.

...he didn't want to use it.

The beasts started screeching when they neared the lining stones, Duo knew his cue and stood on the pedals and bent forward presenting his back to the beasts, covering Heero with his body; just in case they really took that last plunge before...-

"Ugh-!" Duo gritted his teeth and he was so sure that he'd have to take the brunt before passing the lining barrier stones; but just like that...

"...huh-?" he looked back at the flying beasts staring at them outside the barrier, as if making sure that their preys got into the barrier safely.

"...eeh?" -_as if! right?_

And just like that, they entered the King's City; breaching through the city gates and making quite a ruckus along the way on the crowded streets... but Alata wouldn't slow down, ignoring Duo's coaxing and words, despite Duo having a pass and all. Maybe it was because Myrica told her to focus on sending them to the Palace; so he just tried to steer the reins so as to not make damages here and there while ignoring the city gate soldiers chasing them and telling them to stop. Treize could handle their complaints later...!

As they climbed the sloping roads of the Palace rock mountain, the antler was already at her limit; Duo could tell from the horrible sounds of her breaths.

"Alata! Alata, slow down a little! It's alright now...!" but he knew the animal took the soldiers on their tails as another form of threat.

"ALATA! WE'RE FINE HERE!" Half way climbing up he was forced to pull the reins to snap her out of her trance, though it resulted in contrast to his aim. The antler shrilled and bucked up, as if trying to throw him from her back. Duo yelped while holding Heero's body tightly, calling out the antler's name and thought that they're going to fall off the road cliff. And that's the end of their journey back.

But suddenly, like a candle put off with a single blow of air, she stopped; and Duo was thrown forward by the previous momentum onto the antler's neck; his neck and back felt like it's broken from the whiplash, his air knocked out of his lungs, and his lower lip was broken... he wasn't sure when, perhaps when she jolted repeatedly his chin collided with Heero's head. Coughing out and tried to inhale at the same time, and chased his dizziness away; his watery eyes tried to see if Heero was hurt, his numb hand shifted from around Heero's body and found Heero's hand encircling Alata's neck with fingers giving light pressures on and off onto the thick fur. So it was Heero who calmed her down...-wait!

". . . Heero...?" Duo called tentatively with a trembling voice, mostly because of the exhaustion and the sudden excitement... and the demon answered with a soft moan.

"You- ...YOU'RE AWAKE! I'M SORRY THIS'S PROBABLY TOOTIGHTANDUNCOMFORTABLE...!" Duo instantly came into his alert side and took off the shawl from around Heero's head, half expecting to see his wings loosened too but disappointed when he saw that they're still plastered to the sides of face tightly.

Heero moaned again when his wings exposed to the winds; the soldiers that were chasing them stopped abruptly when they saw the white wings glistened in the sunlight, Duo spared a glance at them and immediately urged Alata to move forward again. She complied with slow steps this time, and realizing that she didn't need his weight, Duo jumped down and guided her walking up the zigzagging slopes, with the soldiers following on their horses from a respective distance behind. He didn't mind them as long as they let them be; what worried him was that Heero was moaning as if he was in great pain.

The last slope was long and straight, leading to the barbican gate where some soldiers standing at alert, probably already had the update of them climbing up the road. A tall man waited in the middle of the gate entrance, he was frowning with a dark aura around him; that must be Odin, Duo thought; and before he finished thinking that, Heero squirmed about and forced himself to dismount the antler from the other side. Duo caught his arm when he almost fell down, but Heero shook his hand off.

Duo was almost panicked when that happened, and Alata took it as the cue of dismissal as she fell on her belly and didn't budge again. For a moment, Duo was torn between helping Heero walk and staying with the antler, but seeing that Alata was looking like she was about to topple over with exhaustion, he stayed put still holding the reins and stroking her neck; watching Heero dragging his feet towards Odin while the others watched silently with mix emotions in the heavy air.

Heero stopped several times to gather his leftover strength to move again, his body was hunched forward and trembling like a leaf; he almost fell a couple of times too... but nobody moved to help him; even Odin only stood stoically on his spot... with a deeper frown of dissatisfaction, and a much darker aura after that, and more after it repeated. Then Duo realized what he was witnessing, it was the ritual between a master and slave; the realization hit him like a stab to his chest that he wanted to cry by the pain. And as if answering him, Heero fell down just meters from Odin; and he struggled to stand up... _JUST HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU WANT TO SHOW OFF YOUR DOMINATION?!_ -he wanted to shout out to Odin or just about everyone watching there, but his throat constricted and he could only gasp and gritted his teeth, somehow knowing the demon wouldn't appreciate it if he snapped and stated the obvious in front of everyone who didn't care about him or his dignity.

After much effort, Heero managed to come to Odin's spot and fell to his front, and only then the man moved his arms to catch him. The crowd made a reflexive gasp together when it happened, mostly because they wouldn't catch a demon when he fall in front of them -they'd dodge instead. Odin let out a soft snort and dragged Heero on his feet, secured under a possessive arm, while he clung with both hands around the man's body; and they both moved towards Odin's chamber in silence while the crowds made way for them, watching until the two disappeared from sight with frowns on their faces.

Duo tried to breathe again after it passed, what he witnessed came as a shock to him and he fell sitting beside Alata with labored breaths. He never saw what kind of treatment given to a demon before; humans were all the same to him... a stranger, a by-stander, a face he never saw before, a voice he suddenly became aware of -and maybe soon forgotten; but Heero was more than _that_...!

_He was more than all of you!_ -he wanted to scream, but no moan coming out, let alone a shout; he only trembled there feeling all energy drained out of his body, and his sight grew dim and narrowed.

"DUOOO!" a shout reached his ears; "My gods, you look like a mess!"

A pair of strong arms pulled him up into a bear hug, of course it was Treize, the halo around the blond head blinded his eyes and he closed his eyelids... and laughed while hugging his cousin back.

"Duo...? Are you alright?" the blond asked with concern; Duo knew he was still laughing and didn't seem like he was about to stop soon, but he couldn't help it, it was all he could let out...he wanted to cry but couldn't, and the laughing tears formed in his eyes felt almost as good.

* * *

><p>Suddenly he wanted to go back to the covenant.<p>

He didn't want to enter the Palace; he knew he wouldn't find anything good by living in there. The only problem was that he didn't have a home to go back to... and there was a flock of assassins keeping his name on top of their lists.

* * *

><p>The sound of a deep relieved sigh.<p>

A large hand behind his head.

The doors looked familiar.

The sound of fire burning in the hearth.

His clothes were gone in no time.

The air was steaming.

A muscular body behind his back.

. . . water was hot...!

"Oh... Is the water actually too hot for you?" A grimace. The white beard glistened with tiny beads of water from the steam.

"...r... you tr-... boil m-...?"

"...if boiling you works wonders, then I'll boil you...!" the voice was roughed, "For now, shut up and sit still!"

-Not like he had any power left to do the opposite.

The man harrumphed and continued massaging his right arm under the water using both his larger hands.

-As if anything will flow again in his veins.

There was red mixing with the clear water.

". . . angr-...?"

The man tsk-ed. His hands were rough on his arm; more than being angry, perhaps he was impatient. Then the man encircled his head with both arms, from under his chin; probably keeping him from talking more.

They silenced.

The steam filled his blurry vision, like erasing his already dim sight; it caught on his long eyelashes and weighing them with water beads. If he could close his eyes, perhaps he could sleep...

". . . I thought I was going to lose my hands . . ." the man said silently, something implicit weighing his tone.

His closing eyelids flew open again. The water beads rolled down his cheeks like tears. He tried focusing his vision to the man's face above his; his older face looked solemn.

...somewhat sad.

"...the-...still -ere..." he tried to say it audibly.

The man snorted cynically, "...Yeah, right. They're still here...!" his arms tightened for a second; when they loosened, the man let his red-bound wrists lingered around the small neck in a loose hug. There was a matching circling red marks etched on the pale skin, like some angry ligature marks of a lynch; and as the reds bled out its color and spoiled the water in streams along the demon's naked body, he let his hands fell into the water again... somehow not wanting to feel like he was desecrating someone's grave even more.

And some time when it took place the demon had shut his eyelids while looking up to his face, having his head lulled onto his chest, wings still tightly cupping his cheeks; he noticed a speck of blood on the white feather and pondering whether he should cleanse it or not. In the end he decided to let the wings untouched while the demon wasn't awake; moreover, it's the first time he saw those wings in such condition. He didn't want to ignorantly make it worse, so he continued what he intended to do from the beginning, warming the demon's body until his joints and muscles somewhat pliant; and then took him to bed and let him leech off his vital force under the many heavy blankets until he woke up. That was what he'd been doing in those years cohabiting with the demon, although it's not like the demon taught him how to take care of him or anything if the necessity ever arose.

Only this time probably took a longer time for him to wake.

The man sighed again as he watched the oblivious sleeping face on his chest; if it were a human boy's face then anyone would have melted seeing that serene beautiful face. What made him so wrong just for being a demon? His demon had never done anything wrong, he couldn't help but stray his mind to that depressing thought again.

_-they are faulty for finding us at faults._

The words floated up into his mind and he remembered about the book under his pillow, and he was sorely aware of its existence like it was a hard jaggy rock against his head making him too agitated to sleep. He snorted to himself, might as well read some more and see whether anything else worth to make some pointers for. Half reluctantly he opened the book pages and somehow his mind had remembered what to read in them, so he took a sum of pages from the empty parts and let them slid to the front like a closing wing, and frowned at his unwillingness then closed the book. He was about to slip the book under his pillow again when his mind thought he saw a flash of red in the turned pages.

But the book was written with black ink-

He jerked into alert and instantly propped his upper body on an elbow, straightening his upper body so he could read the book better. Opening the pages to the empty page and found the red letters writing itself on it, and something appalling stirred inside his chest while he stared angrily at the letters...

x - - - - - - - - x

_I made a mistake today.  
>I shouldn't have, but I'd done it anyway...<br>I sacrificed my humanity and _

_I start hating the demons for what I did_

x - - - - - - - - x

Duo sat on the floor of his room; somehow he'd managed to slip from Treize's clutch and fled to the place where he thought he'd be alone for some needed solitude. The thick wooden doors felt like a friend's supporting back for once...

"DUO, I TOLD YOU TO GET THE HEALERS CHECK YOUR WOUNDS, ALREADYYY!"

-...or not!

Treize paused at the doorway, looking down at him for some moments.

". . . what are you doing prostrating on the floor like that...?" he asked with innocent frowning face.

_You could make such comment without feeling guilty for banging a wounded guy with a thick wooden door-panel while making innocent face too, huuu...?!_ His mind retorted but he was too exhausted to voice it out; he had a bleeding bump on his forehead to add to his mind right now.

"Look, don't act like you don't feel the pain now, your eyes are watering, you know?" Treize snorted and squatted down beside him.

"WHO THE HELL SAID I DON'T FEEL THE PAIN JUST NOW-?!" Duo snapped and regretted it as his head felt the pain hit him with vengeance. He doubled over and moaned in pain, and moaned again when moaning hurt.

The blond sighed and gave in; "Alright! If you don't like some strangers checking your body, you could at least let me help you treating your wounds, right? Not like you could do it by yourself anyway, you got a new bump on your forehead from falling on the floor; see?" he admonished and cupped Duo's left cheek with his right hand, thumb carefully wiped the blood sliding down from his forehead.

"...-!" Duo stared speechless with pale incredulous expression. No wonder he heard people talked about his cousin secretly with fright when they thought no one's looking! He could glide through hard times with cunning maneuver while posing himself as the-good guy whenever he liked.

-in other words: **sly**ly _in denial_. And with shimmering imaginary background around him too!

"...! Look, your face started to get really pale! Let's get you bathed before I could treat your wounds...!" Treize smiled kindly and scooped Duo's body from the floor like he was a pillow.

"YOU'RE A LIFE-HAZAAARD...!" Duo protested and tried to struggle, which only earned him happy chuckles from the blond.

x - - - - - - - - x

_I sacrificed a life, trying to act human  
>while in my heart I know I'm not humane<em>

_-but I know the spilled blood won't be on my hands  
>it will be in the demons' names<em>

_I'm not afraid  
>humans are faulty, the demons said<br>-thus for being faulty,_

_I am right _

x - - - - - - - - x

"Duo? Hey...!" Treize tapped lightly on his cheek. "Don't sleep in the bathtub; if you're that tired I'll treat your wounds on the bed. Come on!" He pulled Duo to stand and covered his body with a wide fluffy towel and carried him in a hug to the large bed.

Duo hugged him back and didn't let go when Treize put him to sit on the mattress.

Treize loosened his arms, but thought that right now his smaller cousin seemed to need that hug more than medicine; so he put one knee to support his weight on the bed and hugged Duo again, more affectionately. Knowing his cousin only let out his true feelings to him alone since they were way younger.

"...this is 10-years-worth of hug?" he smiled and stroked the back of Duo's head.

Duo moaned something to his shoulder.

He waited until Treize's stroking made him comfortable enough to speak, ". . . Treize . . ." he started almost hesitantly.

"Hm?"

". . . I killed someone on the way-" Duo mumbled slowly.

"Did you use your _hands_?" Treize's reaction was too immediate for his liking, but he kept it to himself.

He shook his head lightly.

"Well then, it's alright-"

"NO-IT'S NOT ALRIGHT!" Duo shoved him angrily for the apathetic smile.

Treize stared him for a moment, waiting for Duo's heat dissipated; and started his approach with kisses on Duo's face and head. "...I'll kill anyone who hurts you!" he whispered between kisses, and paused; lips lingering on Duo's ear for a while, letting him felt his presence and steady breaths.

". . . and seeing how you're hurting right now..." he breathed slowly, his fingers combed Duo's long wet hair a little, "...then it saved me the work if that someone is already dead...!"

Duo frowned in silence for a long moment; in the mean time Treize was already bandaging the wounds around his wrist from where Myrica pulled him up from the falling bridge.

". . . Treize . . ." Duo half-reflexively whispered out when he realized he'd been staring at the blond hair under his sightline, as Treize was kneeling before him.

"Hm?"

"You're being unfair, you know...?"

Treize smiled without looking at Duo's eyes. "It's alright for me to be unfair..." he kissed the back of Duo's hand he'd finished bandaging. "It's so you don't have to live in fear...!" then he looked up and slipped the hair hanging in front of Duo's face to behind his ear.

_. . . but it's unfair to Renn . . . !_

Duo frowned deeper staring into Treize's gentle eyes, his face gotten really hot and his breath hitched. Tears flowing out from his stinging eyes; and he cried onto his cousin's shoulder when the older one embraced him again.

x - - - - - - - - x

_...but I fear Me-_

x - - - - - - - - x

Odin glared at the book in his hands as if he could burn it just by heated gaze, but knew he couldn't do anything to stop that book from writing itself.

_This book is happening __**now**__...!_

-and he realized that something, somewhere... had its eyes set on his demon after 4000 years being inert in sleep.

x - - - - - - - - x

x - - - - - - - - x  
><em>saru's note<em>:  
>...the General-Treize and the cousin-Treize... hahahahahahaa (we were laughing our *sses-off when hearing his voice again, Treize is Byakushi...! didn't realize it back then)<p>

thanx for Cuzo for always reviewing :D -and to others who read this fic and gave appreciation;  
>this will be the last chapter for this year... can't belief it's been going for about one and a half year<br>how time flies by  
>(and in that whole time, we didn't get to finish even one book? -sweat- oh shoot...! OTL)<p>

it's been cold lately, although it's just raining everyday; can't imagine what happened in snowing-climate.  
>this monkey will certainly be dead -frozen...<br>almost got hypothermia from car AC once, and that was while this monkey wore 2 T-shirts + 1 shirt + a double-layered jacket too (we're checking out of the hotel after finishing a project and the luggage was too heavy so saru thought to wear the excessive clothes), while the colleague from London was sweating himself until his skin turned red. was it that different of temperature between here and there?  
>in saru's town, below 20°C is already considered really cold... you probably add a 'minus' in front of that number for your town's temperature and just laugh at this note, though... haha<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

** Another **** -1 feb '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: Here written some scenes that probably would not be to your liking (or perhaps you doujin-lovers actually like?); this is your only warning that it might get worse from here._

**chapter 16**

_-he stands in the dark; unmoving-  
>there's nothing new in that.<em>

_Soon there would be long disproportioned claws of his Nightmare scraping at the space  
>making their ways to get to him.<br>even in the dark, he could see the black claws as clear as he could see himself standing there.  
>of course, this is his dream.<em>

_And there they come; with a muted sound deafening the stale air like always._

'_-you...'  
>they call out with a heavy dying-like voice<br>between the muted-pause of their rapid movements  
>when their intermingling arms stretch out themselves thin and interspersed<br>in their efforts to get to him first_

'_-youu...'  
>Sometimes he hoped the voice would actually call out his name<em>

'_-yooooouuuu...!'  
>the agonized voice becomes desperate, and the elongated arms show their fused shape;<br>amalgamating themselves in dead-locks into a massive worm-like body.  
>he can hear the agonizing screams from it as it nears him,<br>as if each claw screaming in pain;  
>but they are muted in the same time.<em>

_He feels at ease and anxious altogether..._

_Usually some claws managed to stretch themselves longer than the others from the body and took plunges at him;  
>he'd just dodge them casually or swat at them when they are about to reach him.<br>But this time it's different, the body stops before him,  
>screaming and mutes the space and flailing, and stills, and staring at him blindly.<em>

_A bile forms in his stomach;_

_Why is his Nightmare coming at him with different approach now?  
>A little mind screaming inside his head telling him to wake up now; or he'll regret it later.<br>But there's an irresistible pull beckoning him to walk to the fused body and actually touch it._

_He backs away a step when the intermingling arms unlock themselves  
>with a deep heavy wheeze and pose like an altar of arms and claws and-<em>

_...a sacrifice is needed.  
>A thought forms in his mind.<em>

'_-youu... -ant...'  
>the inhumane voice tries.<br>_"_...what?" he asks in disbelief with fear;  
>somehow he knows his Nightmare has actually <em>_**seen**__ through him._

_He tries to back away but there's an invisible wall behind his back not letting him escape this time._

'_-wannn...'  
>the voice sounds like it's shivering in satisfaction.<em>

'_-you wannnnnt...-'  
>the voice whispers in pained delight;<br>and he has to -wake up now!  
>his mind screams.<em>

_-wake up now!  
>-wake uuup!<em>

_A dim light shines in the hollow space of the open up arms -now screeching in impatience-  
>and slowly some colours show in his always black-washed dream.<br>First shows up glints of blue;_

_-WAKE UUUUUP!  
>and his mind is screaming hysterical, numbing his brain.<em>

_Then shows up specks of light brown;  
>and the screaming of his mind fused together with the screeches coming out<br>from the hollowed body-of-claws before him. Deafening him  
>and then pale white with reds shaping a body.<em>

_and then it suddenly turns awfully quiet-_

_and the black claws holding the thin limbs in tight grips, forcing them to spread open;  
>and gripping at the frail wings, pulling them backwards;<br>and jamming themselves into the wide open mouth that might be screaming in pain_

_-or pleasure...!  
>the alien thought jerks him in fright; but as it enters his head it begins to reveals things opposite of his own beliefs...<br>like arms encircling his head and digging their claws into his neck and chin forcing him to look closely.  
>and as the black claws scratch at the lithe body leaving traces of desire on the pale skin, his hands itch to trail them too.<br>and his mouth dries as his eyes watch the usually stoic face bent in pain/pleasure;  
>eyes narrowed with sheen of water making them gleaming, and the tears cling at the long lashes.<em>

_and he sticks out his tongue as if he could lick a trail of saliva dribbles from the violated mouth;  
>imagining he brush it along the pointy teeth and the pliant lips.<br>and his eyes trail down savoring the sight of the body bends erotically in the middle of a violent trash trying to get free;  
>but the left leg bends at an angle where it covers the crotch area<br>and he remembers he want to tear it away so he could see whether that particular spot is violated too or not...  
>-if not...<br>he would-_

'_-yessss... you waaaaaaant himmm...-!'  
>his Nightmare is embracing him from behind and smiles widely in satisfaction,<br>whispering victoriously into his ear-_

A deafening boom shook the Palace and windows of the other rooms instantly shone with lights as the commotion stirred in the dead of the night. Alarmed guards marched up in haste towards the origin of the sound as bewildered servants stuck out their heads from their chamber doors with varied surprised and worried faces; the only resemblance on their faces was that they were questioning that very sound and their hearing.

Some of them heard a loud crash of a lightning, and broken stones; or was it various voices screeching in horror? Some said they heard heavy clunking of metals, like many chains hitting a hard object with a brunt force; some said it was a single inhumane voice howling to rip the sky open, and the shattering glasses. But then maybe they heard all of those but could only distinct parts of them?

The guards stopped and saluted several meters from the General who was likely had been there for some moment before them, trying to open the doors of the room where the explosion originated; and his familiar materialized closely by his side clinging with one hand at his robe, staring indifferently at the closed doors with inhumane stare. His six warriors stood guard in pairs at either side of the corridor and behind him, hands on the hilts of their weapons; the guards knew when The Sixth were already there then the General would dismiss them. They waited for his nod and left the corridor, exchanging worried glances between themselves and stealing curious peeks behind them.

Treize waited until the guards disappeared in the intersection before he called out again.

"Duo! May I come in?"

There was still no answer, only some muffled sounds of falling things heard from behind the doors.

"Leave...!" the-cat said apathetically tugging at the loose robe. Treize frowned at Rianka, noticing that the-cat was hiding _his_ fear instead of admonishing him. One of the doors clicked open by itself and the-cat actually jumped, frowning indifferently still; but Treize knew that _his_ -invisible- fur was on end for he felt it as surging energy around and inside himself.

He stroked the small head while nodding at his men, telling them to stay outside. The-cat cocked _his_ head a little watching him got inside the doorway with imploring half-curious half-worried stare; Treize smiled at _him_ a little before he closed the door. And he stopped short as he turned his head facing the inside of the room.

A small crystal bead fell from the torn chandelier to the floor with a tinkling sound welcomed him, then followed by another one and some broken part of wooden furniture hitting its other fallen parts.

Treize paused for a moment, adjusting his eyes to the dark room with only dim moonlight streaming through the broken window glass and ripped curtains. He knew there were broken furniture and scrapped things strewn all over the floor, but when his eyes adjusted to the dark he was surprised to find all the broken things were damaged with uncanny claw marks superimposing in crisscrossing weaving traces, from the floor to the walls and ceiling. Some claw marks were small enough to be the size of children hands, some were large enough to rip the armoire in two with a single scratch; and some were deep enough to penetrate the thick stone walls and floor, as he realized he heard the sounds of dripping water from a flower vase laid in pieces which repeatedly hit the floor of the room below.

He was expecting this to come, that was why he cleared the room around Duo's room; but he didn't expect it to be this much. A small shiver ran up his spine before he took a careful step forward towards the only standing -relatively unscathed- furniture in there; Duo's bed.

"Duo...?" he tried halfway into the room, fighting his way through the debris and sharp fragments.

His younger cousin was only sitting on the bed unmoving, like a solemn statue; his hands lied limply on his laps, back hunched forward a little, head down in an almost relaxed pose; apparently he bolted to sit and didn't move since then. The moonlight was half silhouetting his figure; and he had his eyes open, albeit unseeing, at an imaginary spot above his half-bent knees. The wind played with the straying locks swaying them as if stroking his face.

The lack of reaction scared Treize.

He tentatively caught a stray lock and slipped it behind Duo's ear; when he noted there was no threat to his life he sat on the side of the bed facing Duo, stroking his limp hands waiting patiently for his presence to register in Duo's mind.

It took over 10 minutes before Duo's fingers twitched. With a relief smile Treize moved his hand to cup Duo's cheek and stroked his temple.

"Need a drink...?" he asked when he saw Duo's lips tightened. Duo muttered something unintelligible for awhile and tightened his lips again.

"...alright." Treize answered with a smile. He didn't know what Duo was saying, but if his answer was wrong it should bait him to move. And Duo did move his head facing him, staring with a lost look in his eyes, as if not understanding Treize's word or just not recognizing his face.

"It's alright." Treize said again; he recognized such expression too much, having seen it on his sister's face too often when she was still alive, and almost every night when she conceived Duo, hugging her bulging stomach with fright and clawing at her own arms. The memory was still fresh that he could picture it behind his eyes. "You are here. It's alright..."

Duo frowned and faced down again.

"...-caught me..." he whispered with an accusative tone.

"...It caught me." his voice rasped and almost sounding like someone else's voice; "...-and I got him involved...!"

For the exchange of their powers, the Maxwells were driven insane by their Nightmares; Duo heard it whispered a lot behind his back. He knew that fact too, enjoying the hunting game in his dreams where his Nightmare couldn't even lay a claw on him. But not now...

-why?

"-I'm sorry..." he mumbled apathetically.

Treize frowned too, "Duo, there's nothing for you to be sorry-" he tried.

"Father... Mother... I'm sorry...!" Duo continued with a crying voice and Treize shut up; so Duo had realized it, he thought.

He sighed and slowly pulled Duo's body into a hug.

Their Nightmares turned their feelings against them; turning all logics upside down, turning recognition of familial ties into nemesis, safety into insecurity; and most of all, love into hate. There were known cases of the Maxwells killed each others in their episodes of nightmare, because in times the after effect of the nightmare just wouldn't dissipate even in their waking hours. The deeper the feelings they had for their loved ones, the deeper the effect etched in their minds.

He only thought he could get along with Heero and his Nightmare immediately sought it to become its weapon; and what a weapon it was...

"...-I'm sorry..."

He could only imagine what kind of a weapon it would have had if he was brought up in a family that loved him. The only reason why his Nightmare didn't use his family was because he didn't feel the love for them; and that's because they died before they could be used as weapons too.

"-I'm sorry!"

"... I shouldn't have been born...!"

"Duo, don't say that...!" Treize tightened his embrace, and the guilt came clawing at his heart again; he hadn't faced it for about 10 years now.

But they both knew the other Maxwells died for Duo's sake; if he hadn't been born they might still be alive... insane but still alive; perhaps until they kill each other or commit suicide for their own reasons. Yet they chose Duo to be their last reason.

"Their reason was you, Duo... don't deny your life!"

-NOOO!  
>He wanted to scream; he couldn't deny his life... for what it's worth, he's afraid of his Nightmare's clutch because he valued his life!<br>Now he couldn't deny his Nightmare, either...

-it caught me...  
>-my Nightmare caught me!<br>But Treize didn't know how frightening it was.

-the one denying is you, Treize...!  
>And he couldn't deny his Nightmare too for it knew what he felt before he even acknowledged it himself.<p>

But he only thought that for having the chance of meeting Heero, then his life wasn't so empty after all; for wanting to know the reason of the demon's perseverance and loyalty, then he might not feel that self-loathing too much anymore. That he could find some strength in Heero's forbearance. That he might not feel that lonely anymore... It was only that.

But perhaps, it was all his Nightmare needed to use against him.

* * *

><p><em>The sound of the explosion behind them deafened the air.<br>The flame bloomed like a monstrous flower._

_The beast howled galloping faster with the boost of energy from the blast.  
>The man's cloak flapped violently in the air like a flag of victory;<br>the boy covered his head with both hands with a choked yell muted before it came out of his throat.  
>The man's large figure sheltered the boy's small body<br>seemingly ignoring the raging fire making their form looking like a quivering silhouette..._

_-and that sense of safety was nothing like he ever felt before-_

Odin opened his eyes to the serene eyes of his demon on his chest. He thought he felt something familiar and unworldly that woke him up, and he blinked as he found one of the demon's wings stretched open brushing the ends of its feathers to his temple.

He frowned.

"You're peeping my dream!" he accused; "That's the first thing you do when you wake up...?!"

Heero didn't budge, didn't even move a single facial muscle to make an expression; though his eyes were still droopy in a marking gesture that might classified as longing... -or he could just still be sleepy.

They silenced for some moment staring into each other's eyes until Heero folded his wing back.

"...do you miss him?" Heero beat Odin before he could make another retort.

"Him who?" Odin asked back reflexively.

"The one in your dream."

Odin stared his demon for several seconds with uncertain frown.

"...like, 'for being the center of my life'-miss?"

Heero blinked once at the question his owner had asked with quite a serious face, which he hadn't expected.

"He's the center of your life...?"

Odin blinked at the apathetic face that asked him with an -almost- baffled tone.

"Wellll-..." Odin turned his eyes at anything but the demon's eyes, particularly at the closed thick drapes of his windows. "When I was younger... -you could say..."

"-Why are you asking?" he asked fast looking back at his demon.

Heero silenced for some time, he wanted to know where the signs that Odin drew on the ground while he was sleep-walking (sleep-fighting...?) on the single road of the peasant's house that other night came from, but he didn't want Odin to start asking questions that way either. Odin could tell there were some thoughts formulated in the demon's mind just by staring at his eyes, but recognized the dismissal flashed in them too.

"Bored." Heero said flatly.

Odin huffed cynically at the answer, and decided to stir the conversation to something more satisfactory. "How's your body?"

"Okay."

"Okay like what?" the man half grumbled in his impatient.

"Fine."

And Odin frowned deeper at how his demon reverted back to a single-worded conversation. But he gave in with a sigh. "Can you move?"

"-You really need to tell me how to treat you in some cases...!" he added, not wanting to hear another one-worded answer again.

"You did good."

Three words; still not satisfactory enough for his frown-o-meter.

"You're wet." Heero commented.

"You mean sweaty...!" Odin grimaced; "I thought if I'm hot, my energy would seep out of my body...?"

"Like when one does heavy exercise...!" and added as a second thought. "I can't do my exercise in bed, can I?"

Heero stared at Odin's serious face; others might point out that they could do horizontal-dance in bed as a joke, but Odin never brought such topic up; he respected the man for that. -Or rather, the man respected him like that.

It made him want to smile.

He softened his eyes a little.

"Aren't you bored?"

"For being your bed-warmer the whole week? I got my vacation early and some bonus from the General...!" Odin smirked.

"The General gave you bonus?" Heero frowned with distrust; it actually made Odin laughed.

"Yeah, an important job, he said...!"

"Oh." Heero should have known by now that his owner considered works as bonuses; whatever gave him reasons to busied himself and evade mingling with politicians of the Nobles. "Shouldn't you report to him?" -_to say that you're available now_.

"Naahh; he'll come to us when you wake up." Odin folded his arms behind his head. "Oh...!" he realized something. "Do you need more time-?"

"Go get bathed." Heero cut. Odin snickered and chuckled heavily but complied, got out from under the heavy blankets and put out the fire in the furnace and toned down the verve crystal in its vessel in the kitchenette, and walked to the window and slid the drapes open.

"Uwooooghhhhh... morning breeeeeze...!" he muttered to the cool air after he opened the window sash. Heero blinked staring at the man savoring the cooler temperature by closing his eyes with a goofy grin on his face; and imagined that there were visible fumes gushing out the open window...

"I stayed in the sauna for 7 days and the smell wouldn't even beat the battlefield...!" Odin suddenly barked at him.

"I smell like you and I'm not complaining." the demon said with ease.

Odin clamped his mouth with a mulling frown and a matter-of-factly pout.

"Fair enough." the man said after some pause; he then walked briskly towards the bathroom, snatched the towel from the hanger near its door, and called out. "Are you coming in?"

"I'm not complaining." the demon repeated.

"Okay; I don't mind, if you don't mind...!" Odin chuckled, halfway muffled by the closing door. Then there was a yelp Odin let out when he'd forgotten the steam source of his makeshift-sauna that whole week and unceremoniously put a foot into the boiling water in his bathtub. He cursed a few censorable words while opening the bathroom window and running the cold water from the tap.

Heero eased his stiff body once he heard the water sounds from the bathroom; closed his eyes with a long sigh and rested his head on the relatively damp mattress, smirked a little as it moistened his cheek. While a small part of his mind making notes about airing the bed and blankets and other menial things to do, the major part of his mind kept asking why Odin would have those dreams.

He opened his eyes again when Odin folded the thick blankets from on top of his back to the end of the bed, leaving the thin white cover still sticking to his body by the dampness.

"You're still sleepy?" Odin asked, noticing the demon was still having the same pose as he left him hidden under the blankets, only missing his larger body as his mattress.

* * *

><p>"-...his windows are open, so he must be available now...!" Treize said passed his shoulder.<p>

Duo huffed, trying to match his taller cousin's fast strides. "...I don't think I need bodyguards...!" he mumbled, mostly to himself for knowing that Treize wouldn't take no for answer. Mulling at his situation for the-nth time and considering his options again, Duo's mind kept reaching the same option which Treize always denied; so he thought he could say it just one more time (every day) just to make sure Treize didn't forget to reject his idea.

"Or I could just-"

"We're here." Treize stared him with that look in his eyes and Duo tsk-ed swallowing back his words.

He then pretended to watch the empty corridor while waiting for his cousin to do whatever he saw fit.

Treize's knocks were a couple of open-palmed pat on the wooden door; something about his position in relation with the Palace's ward that allowed him to do something insignificant to achieve his goal to a certain extent... or so something like that; Duo ignored him with a sigh.

"Yes...?!" the voice of a man answered from behind the thick doors.

"Odin, are you decent? I'm coming in...!" Treize called out but stayed outside. Hearing the name of the person inside made Duo spin so hard on his heel he was almost greeted with the previous scene he was facing before, and felt embarrassed all by himself. Treize glanced behind at him for making a flustered face for no reason.

"Yes...!" Odin answered and Treize pushed one of the double doors open, pulling Duo along with his other hand.

Duo kept his eyes on the floor the whole time, frowning at the nagging feeling that had yet formulated into negative sentiment. And Treize stopped suddenly in front of the double bed.

"I thought you said you're decent!" Treize almost yelled in objection.

"I have my _pants_ on...!" Odin retorted matter-of-factly with a tone matching a child's objection to his mother's admonishment.

Duo looked passed Treize's arm to the bed; there was undoubtedly Odin -the same man he saw pulling Heero into somewhere inside the Palace the week before- and there was undoubtedly Heero on top of him.

"You're reading?" Treize passed his surprise -probably faked surprise- fast and saw the books beside the pillow.

"I can read." Odin objected flatly facing the open book in his hand again. He was lounging with his back on the headboard, using two pillows to recline; right hand holding the book, while his left hand draped to his front and was offhandedly stroking Heero's exposed nape.

"Are you alright, Heero?" Treize frowned when he looked down and asked, knowing Odin had made it clear that no-one to ever take advantage of his demon again the next day after Heero and Duo arrived at the Palace. He admitted it was partly his miscalculation of things, but only to himself.

Heero's visible eye opened slowly; it looked like it took him some time to register the situation and companies. He was lounging faced down on Odin's body, head rested on the man's midsection with his arms placed at either sides of the man's body on the bed; and with their height differences, his hips were around the man's crotch. Odin had his legs relaxedly open as if guarding Heero from toppling over from on top of him... like that could ever happen when the demon lied unmoving like a log in his sleep.

The thin blanket covered them loosely and the morning light from the windows made fading shadows on the white cloth, marking the lines and curves and bumps and- ...

Treize cleared his throat when he realized he was staring at Heero's butt cleft under the blanket. Odin smirked without needing to look at his guests knowing what had caught their eyes.

"...oh." was the demon's good-morning when his senses made it into his mind. His ear-wings stretched open from their sleep and folded back neatly with several light flaps. That was his usual 'yawn'.

Heero turned his visible eye at the General who was slightly frowning at him with his General-pout intact.

"...should I make breakfast so you could talk?" Heero asked flatly, while seemingly glued to the man's body.

"Yes, please." Treize's smile was stiff but his eyes shone instantly.

Heero pulled his head up and nodded slowly; then sluggishly sat up and took more time to pause, letting the white cover slid down from his naked back and pooled around his hips.

"You seem a little unwell..." Treize commented with a criticizing frown.

"Sleepy." Heero almost mumbled.

"He means his body is still sleepy." Odin explained before anyone commented again.

"It's not hib- ...sleeping-season yet, is it?" Treize asked.

"There's no sleeping-season, Treize; he's not a bear. If he sleeps more than three days, his body took more time to wake up than usual." Odin chuckled good-naturedly.

"Oh. Then..." Treize brightened. Odin knew where his train of thought heading to and cut him.

"But you can't ambush a sleepy demon in a hunt or a fight; mainly because they can stay awake for weeks until they reach a safe enough place to sleep. Not like us humans needing sleep nightly."

Treize pouted more. "I was going to say: you don't need to push yourself too much, Heero...!"

Odin chuckled at him, glancing at his expression and took a furtive scan at the person standing behind his body. The boy was shocked but he hid it well, Odin could tell from the boy's complexion. He was going to say something to let Treize introduce that boy but Heero moved, and his guests' attentions centered to the demon again.

Heero crawled on four to the side of the bed; the cover clung to his skin but slid to his mid-thigh when he put a leg down. He stood up and held the cloth at the front of his waist before it could completely show his nakedness, and drag its length on the floor towards the bathroom.

"Sorry, I messed up the bed...!" Odin called out knowing his demon was going to put it into the wash basket.

"Nothing unusual." Heero commented before the door closed.

Odin snorted and put the book down, getting off the bed and put a shirt on. Feeling the attention shifted to his bare back.

"You didn't seem to me like you're all about exercise or anything..." Treize commented halfway complimenting the man's physique.

"What?" Odin knew there's always an issue about his age left unsaid. "I'm young enough to be your older brother...!"

"-That's when my parents were still a couple of toddlers." Treize finished the sentence with some agreeing nods. But what others meant about Odin's age was that it unnaturally didn't show on his appearance, and it's unsettling to most people.

Odin showed his fangs and growled at him for that remark, but beckoning them while walking to the kitchenette, lifting the chair from in front of the desk and put it down with a couple of dining chairs circling the small round table facing the kitchenette; making a gesture to please his guests to sit.

Duo's movement was heavy and stiff; Odin noticed the lack of energy around that boy, like a person with no existence but felt too real that couldn't be ignored at the same time. He knew some people -and other creatures- with that kind of disposition usually held something dangerous inside them; and he already put the boy in his to-be-bullied-list because he just liked teasing dangers a lot. Odin felt a lick of energy from inside Duo when the boy sat down in front of him -that should be the farthest seat from Odin, before it disappeared in a flash when their eyes met; and the man smirked knowing the boy felt wary of him, and enjoying it.

Treize pretended he didn't notice the exchange and sat down near Duo; "This is my cousin; Duo." he started without delay.

"_The_ Young Master Duo..." Odin appreciated with a lizard smile. Duo gave a nod of greeting keeping his eyes on the table and refrained himself from fidgeting; Treize would like it if Odin's smile was less teeth-y, but he understood the man's habit when he took a liking to a person or a thing; and he thought it didn't oppose his purpose this time, so he let it be; although he'd like it if Duo had some color back on his face.

"You've heard the situation from your Lieutenant Commander, I believe?"

"Cail might have said something, but I rather have you word it for my ears. And he's still a Lieutenant."

Treize smiled at that.

"I just need some capable bodyguards for Duo; until I can figure out who's behind all this."

"I have Heero-"

"Then you can work together with Heero." Treize said with a closing tone.

Odin's face turned neutral and he reclined to the chair's back, folding his arms at his chest. "...ooh." he let out low with an accusing stare. So that's why Treize told him to bring Heero along, and on such a roundabout outing; he did make sure they'd come across Duo's group. The only letdown was that he and Heero got separated into too parties. But knowing the General, Treize would still call it a succeeded plan.

Treize knew Odin's thought, and he mimicked the man's pose, challenging with his authority on the subject.

"Refused." Odin said flatly.

"This is an order-"

"Rejected!" Odin growled cutting Treize's words, and Duo blinked at their exchange.

"You can't do that!" Trieze accused.

"I can so if it concerns Heero; unless it's **Master**'s order...!" Odin said louder.

"And if it _**is**_?!" Treize pressed.

Odin paused for a moment, staring at his guests in turns with cynical sullenness. "Really?"

"It would be to **Master**'s benefit if-"

"You- put me- in the middle of your _political bouts_...?!" Odin asked slowly. Treize clamped his mouth with a stubborn frown; that's Odin's trump card, the politics; he always made sure he got nothing to do with those, or he'd drop the army and turn mercenary. And that's a blackmailing weapon, because Heero was in contract with Odin, not the Kingdom or the King. Odin usually didn't abuse that fact, so they made sure they didn't give him reasons to make him abuse it.

Treize huffed and loosened his posture and straightened up. "I ask you because you're my martial teacher; I trust you personally."

"-Both your loyalty and your skill." Treize added when Odin opened his mouth to refuse again.

"...and Heero?" Odin tested.

"You need to look out for Heero, that's something I can't change..." Treize left it there.

"So..." Odin straightened his back; "Is this about national affair?" he tried.

"Yes." Treize didn't look like he overrated his reasons.

Odin frowned; "...more than the Kingdom's safety?" -in relation with Heero's safety that could start a war, and so on.

"I would rather have this issue and the Kingdom's safety checked." Treize answered.

"So your safety is equal to the Kingdom's safety..." Odin turned to Duo. "Are you his war-tool?" he flicked his head at Treize.

"ODIN!" Treize raised his voice with his authoritarian tone, frowning with heated gaze at the table.

Odin snickered, wasn't fazed at all; if anything, he enjoyed it like a game. "So you're a potential war-tool." the man concluded, staring back at Treize when he flicked his eyes at Odin's words; and he used to think the General was _not_ that readable. Odin chuckled to himself knowing he'd angered the General personally.

At that time, Heero came out freshly clothed from the bathroom and walked pass the kitchenette and opened the door to let the-cat in.

The heavy air paused and Treize turned with a disagreeing frown at his familiar walking briskly to him and climbed to his laps. "Rianka, I told you to stay-"

"_I_ am let in." the-cat cut as fast as _he_ could, that was only a contest to a sleepy person's slurred words.

"What do you want to eat?" Heero asked briskly when he reached the kitchenette, seemingly already awakened to his usual efficient pace.

"Anything is fine." Treize said half-caringly, eyes trained at Heero's hands skillfully fastened the apron ties behind his presented back.

Heero turned at him and stared. "I can cook you rocks." he said matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Treize's air got significantly lighter, and he actually beamed with curiosity. "Would they be edible for-"

"No." Heero said simply; and Treize's smile fell.

"Hm; I thought you have a secret technique to make even rocks edible. I'd sure like to try if you could actually make marbles into pudding-like texture...-" Treize muttered loudly.

"Just make something edible for our delusional General!" Odin said flatly passed his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Odin chewed like he's <em>really<em> enjoying his food.

"...whaat?!" he asked with an offended frown through a mouthful of-

"I just thought you'd be too soldier-y looking to eat-"

"Pancakes?!" Odin snarled cutting Treize's mesmerized words, but the stacking pancakes on his plates covered with colorful fruits glistening with honey and cream and spiced by flowers and artsy leafs kind of making him look a _lot_ tamer. And it was Odin's choice for Heero to make pancakes.

That scene actually brought Duo to land again, albeit with a dumbfounded look; he tried ignoring them by sipping the tea presented for him, and choked by the sharp smell.

"-what... -_cough_- iz'thiz-?" he tried between his wheezes.

Treize blinked at him, from behind his cup. "Good you made it back, Duo..." he commented and patted Duo's back since he didn't seem like he could speak again with his coughing fit. "Is it that strong? What's in this, Heero?" he asked Heero while stealing a sip from Duo's cup held precariously with a hand. Treize actually had an ulterior motive for visiting Odin, he liked it when Heero served him beverages and food with foreign spices; eventhough his warriors kept nagging him not to swallow anything made by someone who didn't eat.

"Traditional remedy to call back one's strayed spirit into its body." the demon said flatly.

BLURRRGhh! -and the-cat hissed to have _his_ black mane wet from the spray.

"He's joking with you." Odin commented at the two blanched faces in front of him. "From the smell, it's remedy for vitalizing your body so as to treat your wounds faster..., Master Duo." Odin added the last part as an afterthought.

-cough. "J- ...just Duo, please." Duo tried. So Heero realized he was wounded despite him being unconscious when it happened; probably because the smell of the balm he used, he thought to himself.

"Since I won't be working for you, I'd like to keep the familiarization formal to state the distance..." Odin said and bit a mouthful of pancakes, and stabbed a black cherry.

"You're still saying that...?" Treize objected and mimicked Odin's action with his own pancakes and stabbed a blue grape, just for the sakes of intimidating; which both failed with those cheerful-looking pancakes, for Duo's standard -but he kept it to himself; and thought he probably shouldn't have declined those delicious looking pancakes in the first place... but Heero wasn't eating... That's why...

"If anything, being associated with us would only make him be more targeted by some ill-purposed people..." Odin tried his reasons.

"Exactly!" Treize stabbed his pancakes with his fork; "They'd flock around you, and you could vanquish them like flies when they swarm in. And I don't need to mind two parties of him and you, it's like hitting two birds with one stone." he pointed at Duo and Odin in turns with the honeyed fork, and the abused blue grape fell back to his plate.

"...I bet they'd think of the same phrase too." Odin rolled his eyes. "Okay, if logics didn't get to you then I'll let it bare...!" Odin stabbed his fork to his pancakes too. "It'd be _awkward_...!" he said matter-of-factly.

And they paused for some moments, each one waiting for the other to say something.

"Treize wants 24 hours, daily and nightly...!" the-cat decided to explain in words.

Treize blinked at his familiar munching a rolled pancake and the minty leafs with _his_ clawed hand seemingly detached from the whole conversation, but it appeared to be the opposite.

Duo stared at his cup pretending he didn't change complexion again; his Nightmare already pointed it out to him what would happen if the bodyguards-arrangements were to be realized, about his desire and his paranoia; or perhaps it was his Nightmare's desire. And he already knew what Odin meant by his simple words, and he wanted to flee that place to avoid hearing the rest.

"Awkward like...?" Treize left it hanging urging Odin to fill in the blanks; and Duo wanted to paste his sometimes obtuse cousin of a supposedly tactician General with his chair, but tried to hide his thought, feeling as if a thousand pairs of eyes were watching him.

"Hmph! Why do you think I still got no wife, Treize?" Odin tried to evade wording his reasons, not wanting to say it in front of Heero.

"I told you to make babies...-" Heero sought the subject unexpectedly, before Treize reacted.

"-IN A BROTHEL?!" Odin asked incredulously, showing his depression over _that_ _matter_ _again_.

"I'll guard the door to-"

"I don't want their beds!" Odin slammed his hands to the table. "I like my _own_ bed!"

"Then-" Heero shifted his eyes at the bed.

"My bed comes with you as a package!" Odin said matter-of-factly. Treize flung his fork at the man for his courtesy, which he caught easily in the air using his own fork; and Duo fidgeted in his seat.

"Alright; I get your point...!" Treize gave in; "Since you've so obviously gone through that length to show me physically...!" and he meant he's still objecting about what happened earlier concerning some _bed_ and its _package_.

"But I will make sure you change your mind...!" Treize frowned seriously and Odin recognized his promising tone.

"Cail should be good enough." Odin muttered, holding out his fork so Treize could pull out his fork since they stuck together by the prongs.

"-! -I'll take your recommendation!" Treize said using too much force on his hand and almost let the fork slip because of the honey. "...for the time being!" and growled rather childishly at Odin.

Odin sipped his mug to hide his amused smile. "Want to tell me why you're so adamant about this, _General_?"

"Information only available to those concerned with the assigned job...!" Treize said uncaringly and continued eating while rolling another pancake for the-cat.

* * *

><p>-<em>a sacrifice is needed.<em>

The breeze was cool through the stone corridor, making sounds like whining soft howls in its path.

Duo sighed deeply, chewing his lower lip. Treize walked briskly in front of him, leading the way back to his study; still muttering endlessly about his objection.

"...Treize-" Duo tried slowly. They walked several more long strides before the General reacted.

"...what?" for some reason he sounded gloomy, as if knowing what Duo was going to ask next.

"What happ-"

"I don't know." Treize cut curtly.

Duo frowned.

"I don't ask him things about his country; he doesn't ask me about mine. He knew that unwritten rule since the beginning." Treize added and slowed his pace.

"But those were not from fights..." Duo mumbled; he recognized abuse-marks when he saw them, and those red marks on Heero's back were undoubtedly made intentionally by someone who took their time doing it, even when those marks guised as spell-prints.

"Duo..." Treize stopped but didn't look behind; "Forget that you ever saw them, since you couldn't do anything about it!" -and that was an order.

They continued the walk in silence with a slower solemn pace after that.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, General...!"<p>

The greeting caught Treize off guard; he nearly jumped but still managed his composedness.

"Princess Relena... I didn't expect you to be here so early in the morning...!" Treize smiled.

Relena smiled back from the sofa. "Did not expect me so early in the morning, or did not expect me to be here at all? It's passed 9, by the way; it's not that early..."

"Right. I didn't hear any report about you coming back from your leisure castle...!" Treize pour himself a cup of tea, seeing that Relena already had some tea and snacks served by his attendant.

"I thought I'd greet you personally, so I told anyone to not bother you with lesser reports." Relena smiled formally.

"Ahahaa...-" Treize laughed sounded a little less merry than usual; "I assure you any report concerning you wouldn't be in my lesser-list, Princess."

Relena clapped her hands once; "That's great to hear directly from you, Treize...! So, can I have some moment with your cousin? I thought you'd inform me about his arrival, and yet you seemed to have forgotten about me..." Relena pouted sweetly.

"..." Treize knew her faked dejected face, but he couldn't find an excuse to slide from this. "This is Duo, he-"

Relena instantly sprang to her feet, "Nice to meet you again, Duo; you still remember me, I hope?" she smiled brightly at Duo.

Duo blinked at the sudden 'attack'; he still had his mind elsewhere. "-...I..."

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten?" Relena made a sad frown. "You came here once, in the mourning period of my father's passing. We played hide-and-seek together, remember?"

"...uhhh-" Duo seemed uncertain; he remembered he'd come to the Palace before, but didn't really keep the details because of its bitter air. In fact, he only remembered that last one in his mind; although it's probably because he came during the gloomy time.

"Hmph! I remember you were cheating, hiding under the maids' dresses while they fight on who's going to get to hide you...!" Relena giggled, "You little lady killer, youu...!"

Duo flushed a little; he seemed to remember hiding under some women's dresses while playing, but he thought it was the memory from the covenant. "I-... I kind of remember..." he admitted with an uneven smile. There was something unpleasant about the memory that made him decided to forget it, but he succeeded in the forgetting part too well...

"Then, why don't you join me for a chat; I'm sure the General has some business to attend to...?" Relena smiled sweeter. Duo flicked his eyes at Treize, recognizing his calculating stare.

"Yes, why don't you spend some time with her, Duo? She knows a lot more about the Palace than anyone else..." Treize smiled; he needed to have a word with Cail, and he didn't want Duo to hear if he'd have to sort to -half- blackmailing the man or abusing his authority for it.

"-...uuuhh..." Duo seemed helpless, and Relena snatched his arm instantly.

"Come on, let's go! I'll let you enter my private garden just for old time's sakes...!" she giggled again.

* * *

><p>"So, are you going to stay here for good?" Relena smiled, clutching Duo's left arm with both hands; her shoulder rubbed on Duo's upper arm, and something unpleasant crept up his spine.<p>

"-I... don't know...! Treize hasn't decided on anything long-termed yet." Duo smiled and tried to pull his arm free.

"Really? You could've fooled me with all those riots about your arriving here and outing and all that...!" Relena rubbed her left forefinger on her chin, making a supposedly cute innocent pose, no doubt; Duo took the chance and pulled his arms up in the air.

"Don't say 'riots' as if something _big_; it makes me feel nervous just walking anywhere in this place...!"

"-ah? You do?" Relena realized she lost Duo's arm but he swung his hands around to emphasize 'anywhere' so she couldn't take another clutch at it again. "But aren't you The Great General's cousin? You shouldn't be nervous about your standing; first of all, they'd see him 'behind' you before they see you as a person...!"

Duo slowed his pace a little, feeling somewhat down; she really knew how to hit someone's sore spot. "...that's exactly what makes me nervous...?"; he intended to detach himself from the Princess since she seemed like she didn't mind about her private space too much; but Duo did mind her title.

"Hmmmm-..." Relena stared at his eyes, and walked backwards facing Duo and kept her hands behind her. "If you're nervous, you'll make others even more nervous...!"

"Ummm... I guess so..." Duo realized she must have realized it that he felt uncomfortable for the closeness; and he felt a little guilty at her discreet dejected face. She might not have many friends being a princess, that's why she kept a good memory of him... of which he'd forgotten too.

"That said... You still remember about me..." Duo tried. "I was here when I was... around 4 of age...?"

"Ahahahaa...! It's 5; Treize was having a fuss about your coming birthday, but the 80 days mourning period cancelled the party." Relena turned her body and continued walking, albeit slower; still keeping her hands behind her. "I have a talent for keeping memories!"

"Oh..." Duo stared at her back; it was small and looked lonely.

"Too bad you moved out too soon, or else you could have witnessed the demon's arrival too..." Relena muttered conversationally.

Duo reflexively moved following her. "Heero-... he's here from that long ago...?!"

"Mm-hmm... for about 10 years now. It's not that long for a demon's lifespan, you know?" Relena glanced at him; Duo tried not to look flustered, he knew he was being too easy to read but he couldn't help taking that bait. "Oh, I heard you went astray somewhere together with the demon?"

"-ah... We kind of gotten into some situations in the way back...!" Duo tried, but averted his eyes from Relena's curious stare.

Relena giggled. "Say... you didn't have unpleasant mishap about _it_, did you?"

"It? ...you mean about the situation we had?" Duo felt something wrong and his little mind told him to back off from the conversation.

"-the de-mon...!-" Relena almost mouthed, getting into a gossiping mode.

Duo blinked and his steps faltered. "...what?"

"Ahaahahahahahaaa... Oh, you don't need to feel ashamed of yourself; it's not your fault!" Relena giggled and slapped his upper arm and continued walking.

The high-pitched giggle made him have goosebumps; and the way she was talking about Heero...-

"What kind of mishap do you mean...?" Duo fastened his pace to catch up with her.

"Oh, well... the maids were obviously held a grudge to that demon; you could ask-"

"Please?!" Duo snatched her right hand, pulling her to stop.

Relena studied his worried expression, and sigh; "Ahh... so you got infatuated too...!" She then pulled her hand from Duo's grip and walked away making a disappointed frown.

"Wait! Please tell me what you meant-"

"At this point, even if I were to say true facts about _it_, you'd just rule me out as a bad person...!" she said.

-_Could she stop calling Heero 'it'?_ "Could you at least tell me the reason...? I really don't know what you're talking about; and I didn't experience any mishap too-" Duo tried.

"Really? _It_ didn't do weird things to your head...?" Relena frowned at Duo.

"Weird things like what?" Duo sighed.

"Like..." she contemplated for a moment, and pulled Duo's upper arm again so she could whisper in his ear. "_It_ enchanted men in dreams...!"

Relena let Duo pulled back so she could study his face. Duo blinked at her and gave her an incomprehensive stare. She giggled and pulled him again.

"The maids said that _it_ seduced their husbands and male relatives with _its_ body in their dreams; making those men gone crazy about the demon... all they talked about in their waking hours was dirty wicked things they did to _it_ in the dreams, and they became useless-" Relena stopped when Duo pulled away from her.

All Duo knew at that time was that she giggled at the expression he was making.

"Oh, you know... I was too young to understand what they meant, but if they were talking about it furiously without having any regards on who could accidentally hear what they were saying; I got to understand after some studying...!" Relena's smile was not as innocent as before; the disdain in her eyes was too clear to see. "And who knows how many men _it_ actually seduced; well, probably _it_ knows... but it's not impossible _it_ does that to keep _its_ position in the Palace, right? _Like seducing the Noble Heads too?_" she whispered the last sentence.

She actually said 'does' as in 'in the present', Duo's mind pointed out.

She continued her walk with a faster pace. "There was almost an uproar about having _it_ inside the Palace, but the ruckus died down after awhile; mainly because those men realized if _it_ was chased out of the Palace then they wouldn't get to do nasty things with _it_ in their dreams anymore, so they pretended that they have passed it. But if you know where to look or place your ears discreetly, you'll hear them still talking with each other about their 'mishap' the night before and-"

"PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT, IT'S DISGUSTING...!" Duo yelled; Relena stopped abruptly with widen eyes; and from the intersection Heero turned and walked passed them with his usual stoic face. And Duo felt the air around him was shattering like a glass being hit as he passed him close enough that their shoulders almost rubbed.

Relena stared at the demon's back as he walked away in his fast efficient strides; then gaped at Duo. "Oh, Goddesses...! Duo, that was like saying it to _its_ face!" she slapped Duo's shoulder and laughed as if finding the funniest thing in her life.

Duo was so surprised he didn't feel the floor under his feet. He felt his lips moved and said something-

"Oh, don't worry about it. _It_ can't do anything to anyone without Odin's consent, you know; something about _its_ contract and all-"

And Duo had had enough. "Please excuse me I have to be somewhere else..." he mumbled fast.

Relena snorted. "Okay. Come find me if you want to see my garden, Duo." she smiled sweetly.

"-I will...!" Duo said while turning away from her; he didn't know where his feet were going, but he really wanted to flee her and her words. He couldn't take it after seeing his dream last night and the sight of Heero's sleeping arrangement some moments before; he couldn't stop his mind from picturing it no matter how much he tried to focus his mind to something else.

Relena stood alone in the intersection to the terrace, the breeze played with her hair and dress as she stared apathetically at the empty corridor where Duo had disappeared from her sight. She glanced at the other corridor where the demon had disappeared too.

"Hmph...!" she snorted. "So that's the last '_everyone's cousin_', hm? I don't like him... Keep an eye on that boy, I'll see everything he does!" she gave an order coolly. A flapping sound of wings answered her words, disguised by the blowing wind that blew passed her.

* * *

><p>Duo felt a strong cool breeze pushed him from behind, and the swing rocked a little, making creaking sounds until it stopped its movement. He'd found a long-seated swing somewhere in the garden, just when he thought his feet about to collapse; and he'd sat there staring at the swaying wildflower bud near his feet for a long time, despite it being a Palace garden; and probably some gardener would pluck it soon before it could bloom. And it reminded him of Heero...<p>

His mind kept repeating Relena's words about some anonymous men, and his Nightmare crept up from his subconscious mind and replaying the dream it showed him last night and his conscience kept beating itself for being in the same level with those anonymous men and their frenzied lust... and Heero was so...

-_domesticated_ in Odin's arms!  
>The thought said clearly in his head; the same thought that came out of nowhere last night...<p>

No! He contorted his face in pain; it was the voice of his jealousy. And he felt worse for he didn't have enough reason to be jealous of... To Heero he was just a stranger; just another human his master had obligations to.

That's right... Heero was just carrying Odin's duty... That's why the demon didn't feel physical restriction of holding him. It was for Odin not for him-

"-damn it!" Duo muttered painfully and hugged his knees to hide his face, feeling shameful to that swaying flower bud; and letting the swing rocked freely in the wind.

There was some rustling sounds nearing him; he thought he couldn't care less about anyone right now...-

"Master Duo..."

Duo recognized that voice. It's the Lieutenant he had yet to apologize to in the past week since Treize made a fuss about him leaving his room alone after what happened.

"This is Lieutenant Cail; reporting for duty. The General had assigned me to personally guard you for the time being...-" Cail stopped when he realized Duo's rejecting air.

"I..." he paused to think; "...came personally to apologize for what happe-"

"Forget it!" Duo barked with a rasped voice.

"...but my men had also-"

Duo instantly covered his ears with both hands hugging his head. Cail silenced and waited for some time, and Duo almost thought he'd leave him alone, until the swing creaked with another weight on it. He glanced at the ground from under his hands and saw the man's boots jerking the swing gently. The slow swaying and cool breeze helped eased his anger a little, the presence of an older man beside him made him uncomfortable and calm at the same time; but he did grow up in a women-only environment...

"Is this about a friend's circumstances...?" Cail started. Duo paused his breathing unconsciously, but the Lieutenant had said 'friend'... he let out a quivering breath and barely nodded. Cail had thought that the Princess would have said something unpleasant to Duo; in the past ten years, she had chased away countless creatures that dared looking at the demon. That was, she even chased away pets from the Palace when she realized the demon had a soft spot for animals despite their fear to him. He knew she'd surely come attacking Duo when she heard about his outing with the demon. That's why the General had wanted Odin to shield him; she wouldn't dare visibly chasing away anyone from around the demon in front of the demon's very eyes.

But he kept some facts to himself, knowing his own place and standing.

"-...have it too?" Duo mumbled.

"Yes?" Cail missed the first words Duo said.

"Did you have it too?" Duo asked firmer, albeit whispery.

"Have what?" Cail asked back.

"...the ...dreams where-..." Duo couldn't word it out.

"Yes." Cail answered honestly. Duo snapped his eyes at the man's face; he stared Duo back openly.

"I was still Commander Odin's aide when the demon arrived; I was even there on his arrival..." Cail pushed the swing stronger with his feet. "I had never witnessed such an unworldly beauty before; and I didn't mean about his appearance, he looked almost the same as human without the wings- ...I meant his air and disposition."

Cail paused to take a deep breath. "To say I was in shock would be underrated; that presence... him standing unmoving like a serene statue of a god really shattered my core. I felt like nothing, and that's probably the legacy of our ancestors who first started the war with them..." the man smirked. "I bet everyone present there felt it too...!"

Duo stared with a frown; he didn't know where the man's words were heading to. Cail glanced at Duo and his face flushed a little.

"That is... what I'm trying to say is..." Cail cleared his throat; "Men are egotistical creatures, so... when we're faced with something too great for our egos to handle; we'd want to conquer it... or something like that-..." he trailed realizing it didn't sound quite the way he wanted to.

"I mean... -it might not be his doing, but no one would admit that...-!" and he trailed off again, minding whose ears might be listening to his words that could be counted as ruining some Noble's reputation and probably would make his name end up in someone's death-list.

Duo blinked and stared at the man's troubled frown, and blinked some more; clearing his mind from the dark thoughts, and he managed a small smile. "You're right... Thank-you for sharing that, Lieutenant...!"

Cail stared Duo back, "...anytime, Master Duo." He cleared his throat again and averted his eyes making an ill-feel expression. "Uhmm... just for your information; I did have dreams about him in a seductive way... but the Commander was always appearing in the buff with an oar in hand telling me to run for another mile or two carrying my battle-gears...-!"

Duo's frown froze at that.

"...and he kept bullying me with practice even in dreams until such dreams stopped...!" Cail face was turned from Duo's eyes, but Duo could still see his reddened ear.

"...-... ...I'm sorry..." Duo muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"-So, your mind would have its own strength to pull you from that shock too; mine just happened to be a bully-Commander...-" Cail tried a smile and caught himself. "That's when... I'm saying if you experienced such dream and bothered by it..." he cleared his throat again. "-I'm sorry."

Duo actually chuckled, and Cail felt awkward. And Duo thought the Lieutenant had just exposed how much he held the Commander at high and he didn't even realize he said it himself. So, if his subordinate looked up to him that much, he thought he'd try to trust that man too; for what's bothering him was the one man that could physically hold the demon in any way he wanted while the demon had no right to deny his wishes.

What bothered him was Odin's claim over Heero; the source of his jealousy.

"...ummm... would you be interested in some change of air, Master Duo...?" Cail asked tentatively, seeing Duo's eyes dimmed again; and stood up.

"...change of air?" Duo looked up at him.

"You haven't seen the town, right?" the man smiled.

Duo mulled at the offer; it's an option to escape the Palace's tight air, but he didn't have particular interest in anything in the city... even if it was the King's City-

Duo widened his eyes.

Myrica! She said she'd meet him in the King's City...!

And only then he remembered about the girl and her antler; having his mind worrying about Heero's condition the whole week he was out of sight. He slapped his forehead.

The Lieutenant seemed relieved. "Any preference...?"

"Umm... yes-" Duo massaged his temples. "I'm sorry; I have to look for someone in the city...!" he said and stood up.

"Right away, Master Duo...!" Cail nodded and made a way for him.

Duo paused.

And thought-

And looked up at the Lieutenant's face with a calm open stare-

"Please just call me 'Duo'?" he asked.

Cail was taken aback with the clear gaze that felt like penetrating his walls, but after seeing the demon's appearance ten years ago he'd learned to hide his surprise well. "It's a part of my duty to make sure everyone knows of your standing...-"

"I don't need their acknowledgement!" Duo said sternly.

Cail silenced for a moment; he felt that kind of power that rulers usually had in that boy, and he knew he didn't have the disposition great enough to stand against such power; he realized he'd only be some ruler's subordinate, and gave in with a smile. "Duo... then."

Duo chuckled at that. "Thank-you." and walked to find a door to get out from that place.

"...but I will have to call you 'master' in front of the General." Cail said following closely behind.

"I guess that can't be helped." Duo commented simply. "Oh... and I feel guilty for your men's condition..."

"They're alive and kicking. The General gave enough recompense for their wounds and their families didn't object for his generosity." Cail reported flatly.

"I see..." Duo frowned. "Treize bribed their families..."

The Lieutenant wouldn't have put it like that, but it wasn't his words so he didn't comment more.

* * *

><p>A clear sound of laughter reached the lizard's ears, and it turned its head to the direction of the Palace's small gate.<p>

Heero glance at the wall circling the stable area of the same direction, and continued rubbing the lizard's body with the washcloth. So it was Duo's voice he heard from when he departed with Odin that day; that clear laughter was really notable, he thought.

Lix turned its head again to Heero when it heard the gate closed, and continued its own way of washcloth-ing the demon.

"I will have to take another bath if you keep doing it." Heero objected flatly. The lizard let out a lizard's laugh and licked him again, pouring its relief and love for the demon.

"Hn. You're a worrywart." Heero snorted. "To make you even hyper..." he paused and looked up into the lizard's eyes; "I've personally asked the General if I could keep you at Odin's place for the time being- mph-". And he was instantly clutched by the lizard's scythe-forelegs and rubbed by its long neck and head.

"Okay. But you're staying outside!" the demon frowned when Lix licked him again with another slobbery frenzy. "And don't tangle yourself with the laundry ropes again."

The lizard laughed outright; but that happened when it was still the size of a cat, it thought.

It won't have enough space in the landing to be hyper, but it could keep watch for the laundry; with that in mind Lix walked behind the demon beaming with a wide lizard smile intact, and an endlessly wagging tail; making people who happened to be along their way and had never seen a Sauria before blanched thinking '_what kind of __**dog**__ is that?_'.

Sometimes Lix found the humans to be funny that way, and it didn't actually hate them.

x - - - - - - - - x

_thx for reading (and for waiting...)_

_saru's note:  
>Oni-tan's going to go to Solo (a city in the other province, not 'solo' as in 'solo and duo', mind you XD) for a week attending her cosplay friend's wedding; and saru is left with works... just compensate with something purple, preferably something soft and fluffy or mainly something velvety, and saru'd forgive her... -but we're kind of short on money right now... soooo, at least something purple, alright? <em>=_"_=;_ -kind of desperate-_


	17. Chapter 17

**Another **** -****25**** feb '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.  
>Warning: due to work-stress, <em>_saru had some difficult times putting the images in mind to words..__._

**chapter 1****7**

Duo scratched his head.

Duo tsk-ed.

Duo hummed a long moan with a deep frown.

Duo rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand reflexively.

Duo grinned with a crying frown.

Duo's white horse snorted long with some flicks of her tail in annoyance.

Duo's half-smile froze.

"...sorry, but I'm thinking the worst right now. You should've met her too if not for the beasts separating us...-" he complained with a deffensive tone.

"Are you alright...?" Cail asked from his horse beside Duo, somewhat amused with Duo's antics when he's thinking.

Duo sweatdropped. "-hmmm... why no-one told me that the antler is gone? I'd take care of her myself, but Treize wouldn't let me out of my room...!" he scratched his head again nervously.

"That antler rested in the stable for three days and gone the next day; despite the locked doors and walls and all..." Cail frowned a little.

Duo chuckled dryly. "Ahahahahahh... yeah. Her owner seemed to have enough confidence that she could run very fast when it came to escaping...!"

"So, that owner of her... Where should we meet them?"

Duo paused, and stared matter-of-factly at the Lieutenant with a pout.

"-I was hoping the antler would find that person for me...!" Duo said with doomed tone.

"I see..." Cail seemed calm enough to take this outing as a leisure time, if only he knew Myrica in person; but Duo was hoping the girl wouldn't live up to his expectation that much -like some miracle could happen!- "Why don't you tell me things about this person, so I could suggest places where we should search them?"

Duo frowned with an almost bothered stare at the road. "...okay." But the things about Myrica jumbled together in his brain and he wasn't sure if telling a Palace soldier some things about her would be alright.

"She's a barbarian girl." Duo said fast.

Cail waited to hear more, but after some tens seconds of pause passed he realized Duo had finished his explanation. The man blinked and sweatdropped. "...that's it?"

"Oh... well..." Duo scratched his cheek; "She's from the Roude Lord's people...-" he started with a merriless smile. He tried to recall what her people were called but could only remember something about gold and couldn't put the exact word-

"An Aurilathan...?!" Cail asked with almost surprised face.

"Ah! That's right; Aurilatha...!" Duo smiled at the man and found his deep frown. "-...is something wrong, Lieutenant?"

"Does she have a pass? Aurilathans are not allowed to enter the King's City unless they have special pass from Noble sponsors or the Palace Army." Cail stared Duo with something flashing in his eyes.

Duo gaped at the man.

"...why?"

Cail frowned, something in his eyes told Duo that he was being judged as ignorant right now. "Our Kingdom battled them until they lost their home...?" he tried.

"Aaaahh!" Duo just realized. "-she's kind of barbaric but she's nice; we owe her our lives -and she knew how important the Palace Demon's safety and all that, too...!" he said fast.

The Lieutenant paused for some seconds, watching Duo changed his complexion and air.

"...I'm not accusing or anything, ...Duo... I was just asking whether she has a pass or not?"

Duo calmed down a little; he didn't miss the pause before Cail called him by his name too, it seemed the man still needed some familiarization time to pass the awkwardness. But he was hearlifted with the effort. He smiled with a relieved sigh; and then frowned. "...I don't know!" he said matter-of-factly mostly to himself. "She just said she'll meet me in King's City; but we were in the middle of some beasts' ambush at the time so I didn't ask for details... I'm sorry...!"

Cail blinked at Duo's dejected face, amazed that a boy could make so many cute expressions at that age. But then again, the man lived in the area where even children had to strife for a living; people in his environment were harden fighters. Opposite to being in a peaceful covenant.

"...what do you do in the covenant...?" he reflexively asked.

"Eh?" Duo didn't expect the sudden question, but he welcomed the calmer topic. "Earthly Mothers take care of orphaned children and needy people who couldn't take care of themselves. Wordly Mothers make charms and promises...-"

"Promises?" Cail arched his brows.

Duo chuckled. "Yes. Promises are about between spells and barters, but not as strictly as contracts. That's why it's called 'covenant', they make promises there."

"I see..." Cail said but his mind didn't really get what was said. "Oh, about that auri-girl; I might know some places where she could be. But it's in the shadier area than commoner's places...-"

Duo laughed heartily, "I kind of expecting you'd say that, Lieutenant...! Don't worry about me; I guess I just have to trust your judgement for the City."

* * *

><p>The rows of buildings were built on rows of buildings on rows of alleys and bridges on rows of canals; everything was grey-looking and instead of shaddy, the right word should be shadowy, Duo thought. It was around noon and it was no different than dusk or dawn; he could only imagined how dark it would be in the night. The walls had small round holes as windows and were dark enough to be needing some oil lamps lighted the insides. The whole structure was jumbled and the floor plan was kind of maze-like; he wondered if everyone just added this-here and that-there according to their needs without planning at all. That's why he couldn't see the sky even when he looked up from a street, he'd fine someone's floor above his head or another bridge far above him. He'd definitely get lost if he were alone there.<p>

Somewhere between the alleys and the second bridge -he'd recognized just because the sound of running water underneath reached his ears, Duo had lost track of what ground under his horse's feet; it looked like alleys but they passed opened rooms with almost rundown bunks and some tunnels resembling living quarters; and when he thought he was on a bridge and looked down hoping to see a canal, he saw a dark deep gap into the ground and some crisscrossing bridges under them. He sweatdropped feeling his throat somewhat dry. How many time in your life you get to walk on a bridge built above bridges, anyway?

"...why are there bridges under this bridge?" he couldn't help but ask.

Cail didn't even spare a glance down; "Those are not bridges; those are waterways." He said, expecting that kind of question.

"Where's the water?" Duo frowned and a drop of water decided to land on his cheek. He reflexively wiped it with his hand and opened his palm up checking whether it was starting to rain, and looked up.

"Up there."

"-I think I don't want to know the details...!" Duo quipped when he realized there were waterways crisscrossing above them too. He frowned deeper when a thought occurred to him. "Wait; don't tell me that we're walking in a waterway as well?!"

Cail snorted out a small smile; "(that's why) -I'm not telling you...!"

"Whaaa-?!" Duo flustered. "You sure anyone wouldn't try to flush us in here?!" The waterways were made of three-walled tunnels covered with metal bars on the top side, with solid metal gates at every intersection. So that's why there's a stream running in the middle of this bridge, Duo thought; he'd been meaning to ask that but the scene bellow shifted his attention. The tunnel they were in was barred from one-third of its height, that was around average adults' chest, which enabled them to look down, ...or in this matter, to look outside the long cage.

"It's true that there's a risk of being watered down, but we won't drown in this waterway."

"-won't drown, but watered neck-deep without a way to escape, for me, is still considered being drown; it's just not the usual drown...!" Duo objected. That earned him a chuckle from the Lieutenant.

"Why didn't we take the normal way across?"

"This is the normal way..." Cail smiled at Duo's disturbed pout. "The other side is only accessible from the waterways." He added.

Duo thought again and pointed up; "Can't anyone just use the top-way?"

"The cages are made to protect the wires that operate the watergates, as well as being the structure from where the gates are hung..."

"-like a guillotine!" Duo cut.

"Like a guillotine." Cail repeated.

"I hate guillotines!" Duo quipped.

The Lieutenant chuckled again. "Well, they're not made to be loved, but needed anyway...!" -he meant the watergates, not the guillotines.

"To block unwanted people from going into the city?" Duo meant the city as the commoners area, and frowned at the lining relatively neat dim lights he saw on the cliff surface of the other side, just bellow the lowest waterway tunnels; those were supposedly windows. "But we're behind the Palace...!" and countered his own suspicion.

But the shadow of the Palace mountain shaded the area, so it's bound to become a gloomy part of the city, anyway; especially if anyone thought to build their homes into the cliffs that were even bellow the lines of the city's disposal system, which were the canals.

"So, can't anyone just use the top-way?" Duo repeated.

"There won't be opening that's accessible from on top of the cages-"

"I think I see your reason!" Duo frowned again, the other-side just came into view and he was staring at bulky giant buildings with gigantic mills on their tops. The waterways were running to and fro the massive walls, and he reflexively looking for windows or any other opening on their surfaces. He could only found arrow-ports that must be considered as windows; the only things opened were landings and stairs and flying buttresses and if someone would also count in some curtain walls, in fact they're too open that they're made bare without any bars or railing or cases. "What are those?"

"The wind-watermills." And Cail chuckled at the words.

"Watermills that moved by wind? They're so busybodies...!" Duo commented. Cail laughed outright.

"They regulate water from the spring into the city, and circulate it inside their buildings too-"

"What for?" Duo blinked; he could guess the city water-regulating system part.

"Those are verve-factory buildings. They make verve-crystals there; and not only crystals..." Cail left it there.

Duo's brows arched. "That's why they're behind the Palace." He said flatly to himself. So, this was actually a vital area of the city; those were probably the city's weapon factory as well. Too vital that some people thought to hide their dirty secrets down there, he thought. "This can't be the normal way to get into the Factory, right?"

"The roads to the Factory are at the other side of the buildings. Or from the Palace that is not accessible for just anyone-" Cail agreed; "We're not going into the Factory, even if it's you, you'd need a written permission from **Master** himself to enter the Verve-Factory. The Factory is a city in itself..."

"...and who is **Master**...?" -that everyone had talked about with more than enough pressure in their tones. Duo felt a little left out at that topic.

"The King." Cail grinned; knowing Duo's thought of the subject.

"-and I thought you're going to say the person who built this Factory..." Duo commented, genuinely curious.

Cail laughed heartily, amused at the fact Duo could slide from the previous subject without embarrassment.

". . . what?" Duo asked with an innocent face.

-and he didn't even realize it; Cail thought.

"You know, Master Duo..." the Lieutenant said when his laughter subsided to chuckles.

"-ma...?!"

Cail put a hand up to stop Duo's outburst; "-either you have natural talent to be cute, or you have the required nerve to be a politician...!"

"WHAAAAATT?!" Duo gaped with flushed face; mostly because of the cute part.

"Oh, it's a compliment...!" Cail added fast while watching Duo's face turned completely red.

"Yo- ...you're going to say just like my cousin, right?" Duo pouted with a disturbed frown; that's mostly about the politician part.

"Ahahahaa; it's true that your cousin is a genius to slide from shame-"

"-You mean he's shameless and delusional!" Duo quipped.

"Yeaaaa- but he's waaay more refined...!" and Cail laughed again at Duo's heavy-pout. "Anyway, the scholars from Arn'crad thought it off... the Factory system...!" and decided he had to lighten Duo's mood back, otherwise they'd be awkward again.

Duo silenced for a moment, blinking his uneasiness away. ". . . you said there's spring. Where is it?"

"Just bellow us...!" Cail grinned stiffly.

Duo made a grimacing frown, took a glance at the dark gap in the ground; "I was afraid you're going to say that...!" he muttered; he never liked the idea of human's act that greatly changed nature's face, it felt like being insolent to the world itself.

* * *

><p>"...-and I kept fondle <em>it<em> there, and _it_ made those delicious spasms while sticking _its_ tongue out-..." There was a round of leering guffaws, and snorts and some unholy cackles; the men banged their mugs onto the table, and those who were happened to take chugs from theirs hit the table with their palms repeatedly.

"Mmm! -mm...!" a man lifted his fore finger up to gain attention, and hit the mug onto the table from his mouth. He leered wide with dark gleams in his eyes, his incomplete lines of teeth made the drink leaked out of his slobbery mouth. "-last night the slut kept singing to my stick; and you know how much those pointy teeth felt good when _it_ chew-...!" Another table banging and round of guffaw heard...

And Duo couldn't take it anymore; he tsk-ed with a dark frown and gleaming eyes filled with a promise of vengeance, and stood up. Cail pulled him by the arm to sit back.

"-But they're talking about _that_ in the open-!" Duo snapped with a hiss when his butts hit the wooden chair hard, but his mind didn't register the pain at the moment.

"..._we-are-not-in-the-open, Duo_...!" The Lieutenant said slowly and carefully to Duo, almost over-mouthing every syllable to make his reason got across. He'd taken Duo to a couple of bars before this one, and usually three was enough to be counted. And that place had its own rules too... The verve-crystal in the Factory made enough energy-wall that magic users couldn't penetrate; that said, even The General wouldn't let Duo to go there without enough protection. No; considering how much he'd been paranoid in the past week, he wouldn't let Duo to go there at all...! And here the man thought he could help the boy by taking him to the most unlawful place in the King's City where thugs and bullies wore Palace attributes...?

Duo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists; never in his life he felt really disgusted by humans like he was then; it should be very easy to use his _hands_ now since he's _that_ angry. His _hands_ were angry too pricking at his skin, banging at his surface to get out and to be allowed to wrack havoc. But he never let them out consciously in his waking hour; _yet there's always a first time for everything! _-a thought justified itself.

The men at their tables kept bragging about their nights with their-demons (Duo's mind refused to register that they were dreaming and talking of Heero), and others who acted more refined in the room didn't even care to put a stop to their openly showed excitement; some even seemed to discreetly enjoy their erotic conversation, leering by themselves in darken corners or hidden by their mugs at the bar counter. But their eyes showed contempt and agreement to the men's words. It's just as Relena said, you just need to find the right wall to place your ears to eavesdrop, and you'll find such men everywhere. And they were not some ruffians too, judging from their appearance; must be people who worked at the Factory or governmental offices around the area.

And they must blamed the Palace Demon too for their 'sickness', while they're wholeheartedly surrendering to their primal minds every night; that the Palace Demon was taking hold of their right-mind and that the poison had run too deep in every vessel of their bodies and ruling them, though they might never admit insanity for they'd be damned by the Palace. They just enjoyed the game and blamed other; as long as they're on the winning side.

Those kinds of people rot the world!

Cail pulled his hand from Duo's arm when he felt a sharp sting on his palm; he reflexively inspected his hand and found some crisscrossing blackish lines on the skin of his palm, it looked almost like the surface of a fractured pottery. He was aware of the inhumane excitement in Duo's wide eyes, shone with anger and delight in the dark; he knew he had to do something to snap the boy back to his senses, getting berserk in that area was not an option and that wasn't what he took him there for... probably a splash of cold beverage on the face could pull him back? -or would that put him on the wrong end of the boy's anger?

"SHUUU-TUUUUUPP! ME 'ANT EATING TO YOUR WO'DSSS!" a slurred yell followed with an axe kick that successfully broke those men's table in two snapped the bar to quiet.

"-'ANT LIKE NO GRIL, HUU?!" a tall girl stood somewhat wobbly backing the closed door; she was standing with a hunched pose exactly under the dim hanging lamp so her face was darkened by the shadow, but her bright blond hair made enough halo for Duo to recognized her.

She snatched a mug from a gaping man near her and his lax fingers didn't even put up a fight. "WHAAAAA-?!" she downed the content in a swig, which was not much since the man had splashed most of the liquor onto the table when he banged the mug repeatedly just then. "GRILS GOT NO TAIL FOR YOU ANYMORE, HUUH-?!" The girl pulled the man by his neck and actually hic-upped at his face.

"P-...p-hhh..." Duo tried to sigh and inhale some oxygen and say something at the same time, and just realized his throat wouldn't work like that. He inhaled deeply, and barked; "Pay the bill!" and leaped to his feet, tackling the girl straight to the door before a bar fight broke; and he knew the girl would actually enjoyed beating those men until their brains leak out to the floor.

-because he'd do just that...

Cail instantly at his feet, throwing a couple of silver coins onto the table and followed them close, pushing some angered drunks out of his way; when he got out, Duo and the girl were already gone from the narrow alley, so he ran to the direction of the stable where they left their horses, knowing Duo would look for streets that were with less people.

After some rat-tunnels and cat-paths later, a clear joyful laughter guided his way, booming in the narrow passageways and reverberated by the streaming water in the ground.

"-AHAAHAHAHAHAAAHHHAAA... -my Gods, it hurts-... HAAHAAAHAHAHAHAAHH..."

Duo wasn't impressed.

"-Mast..." Cail caught his tongue, "Duo!" he stopped beside Duo and tried catching his breath; he didn't think Duo could run that fast, and while carrying a taller girl on his shoulder too. The girl was -seemingly had been laughing heavily for some time- squatting on the floor hugging her stomach, while her laughter didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon. "Is this the owner...?" Cail asked Duo.

Duo spared a glance at the Lieutenant and frowned back at the girl.

"Hmph. I know you're not drunk; as if anything in this Kingdom could make someone like you drunk!" Duo snorted.

His words actually lessened her laughter to chuckles. "-eheeheeheeehh... that man, you know! That man on the far corner...!" she pointed a forefinger to Duo and left her words for another laughing-bubble broke and she couldn't help herself.

Duo sighed deeply and scratched his head. "You shouldn't make troubles with officials, especially in this city, right...?!" he gave her an admonishing frown.

She stood up. "I know...-hehehee -I'm older than you!" she said between chuckles and gave his shoulders a couple of hard squashing thumps.

"No...-!" Duo grimaced at her strength; "...and since when girls have tails, anyway?"

"AHAAAHAAHAAHAHAHAHHHAAHAAHHA HAHH...!" and her laughing-bubble burst again. Duo sighed deeper, surrendering to that; knowing his Fates had somewhat been kind enough to him giving her some pleasant enough mood so he wouldn't be at the wrong side of her attention.

"This is Myrica; she'd been a great help-..." Duo started to the Lieutenant.

"-'and without her we wouldn't have made it here safely'...!" Myrica continued his words while still chuckling.

Duo glanced at her and obeyed. "And without her we wouldn't have made it here safely. This is the Lieutenant from the Palace-"

"Cail." the man gave her a polite nod.

Myrica was still chuckling while inspecting the man. "You're a Lieutenant now? I know you-..." and she took a deep inhale of the man's scent from around his neck. Cail backed away a step with alerted look. Myrica looked like a cat sighting a mouse, wetting her lips with her tongue. "You're with the Commander 10 years ago...!" she narrowed her eyes delightfully.

Color was instantly drained from Cail's face; he reflexively bowed and opened his mouth to say something.

"-it's in the past now...!" Myrica brushed him off uncaringly and hooked Duo's left arm with both of hers. "Duoooo -, you seeee-..." she tried and chuckled again.

Duo frowned at the smell of her breath. "Don't tell me you've been drinking since you got here?"

"-Mmm-mmmm!" she negated with a grin, "I'm not drunk, just hyper...!"

"You've been drinking _a lot_, then!" Duo summed up.

She chuckled. "I was saying... -you don't need to feel obligated to mee; -because of you I got a gooood job here!" she grinned again and let go Duo's arm.

"Oh, Alata was-" Duo tried when Myrica presented her back to him and started walking away.

"Yeahh, she'll come find me later..." she waved behind without sparing him another glance.

Duo blinked at her departure. "-don't get into trouble!" he said half-consciously.

She snickered, "AHAHAHAHH! I don't need to!" she said before disappearing in a junction.

Duo's expression froze on his face, between a grimace and a gape. _That_ only meant that she's already in one, right?

"Wait! What kind of job?!" Duo shouted.

"A good one!" her shout was reverberated through the dark cold tunnels.

* * *

><p>They were walking quietly in a narrow alley, the width only allowed them to walk in a line; while Duo was somewhat bothered by her words about the good job -because something considered good by her standards couldn't possibly be good for common standards-, the Lieutenant was seemingly had his mind in another black hole too, although his face had had some colors back. Duo didn't need to see it in the dark tunnel a moment ago, the man's air had already given Duo enough reading of how much he was in shock by her words; which just meant that the man knew her from somewhere ...that happened 10 years ago? When was it that her homeland got demolished by this Kingdom's army again...?<p>

Cail suddenly grabbed Duo down and Duo was so surprised he actually yelped like a girl.

"-. . . what?" he asked with a small voice, face flushed feeling embarrassed at the voice he made earlier. His back was pressed to the corner of some protruding wall that could barely make a cover for a person, let alone two people at once.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience; but those men before are definitely searching for you...!" Cail reported flatly, looking out with an eye from behind their wall.

Duo blinked. Could they actually recognize him from just before? He didn't -had yet- exactly do something to be standing out, and in just that instance as he grabbed Myrica and fled? -_well, some of them could probably distinguish his long braid_; his little-mind countered. "They hold a grudge just because of a broken table...?" Duo tried.

Cail snorted. "They hold a grudge because they're the lawmen!"

"WHAA-mmph?!"

Cail sighed at Duo's incredulous face, knowing Duo would actually make an outburst but giving himself a mind slap for acting too late to cover his mouth. "They are. They're the judicial lawmen; the man in the far corner that your friend had been laughing about was the Great Judge from the Palace, specially having in charge of the legal administration of the Factory area."

Duo gaped under the man's hand cover. "...they're taking leisure time in this kind of place?!" he hissed when Cail's hand left his mouth.

"Where else?" the man said simply. Duo clamped his mouth and swallowed the bile that was rising from his stomach; so actually, Relena's words were for the sake of giving him a warning of such place being existed?

"They didn't seem to recognize your identity yet, we should hurry and leave this place before they notice..." Cail said; some warnings left unsaid from his sentence.

Right; if they knew how he's connected with the General, he was sure they'd use him to blackmail Treize for some political justification. Treize probably wasn't so paranoid about the brawn-workers of some hitmen; he's more paranoid about his smiling-colleagues. "Would Treize be angry if this brings him trouble?" Duo mumbled with a childish tone; his mind already picturing the caged windows of his room that Treize might arrange after this.

"He'll have my hide hanging on the wall of his study." Cail muttered, "That's why we should make sure he doesn't notice about this leisure-outing?" and implied to Duo with a mischievous smirk.

Duo snickered at that, his mood lifted; "Yeah...!" -and besides, this outing wasn't actually a lost one, he did find Myrica in that place; he just have to prevent Treize from having a fit over this. "And what a great time we have in this leisure-outing...!" he chuckled and played along, rolling his braid behind his nape and covered his head with his hood; having an accomplice didn't feel so bad, or so alone, or so guilty.

Cail put on his hood as well, a good thing he thought he should change his outfit to a commoner's instead of wearing his notable white Palace uniform; halve of it was thanks to Duo's wish of not wanting to be standing out being with a Palace escort. He cued Duo and led him to use some rat-tunnels again, pulling a lid covering a small tunnel in the wall from a niche on the ground; the horizontal tunnel was barely 80cm wide but he could walk in it while crouching and without even using his hands, avoiding them getting dirty. And with such agility too that it amazed Duo.

"...this is your playground...!" Duo said quietly.

"I grew up here; in a much lower area that was almost never reached by the sunlight..." Cail smirked without looking back. "I see you too adjusting well to the dark...!"

Duo grinned. "I mostly lived in total darkness before Treize sent me to the Covenant."

Cail stopped and looked back at that. Duo smirked mischievously; "Light freaked me out...!" he said lightly and urged the man to move forward again.

-Oh, that's right! That's why he'd find shelter under some maids' dresses when he played hide and seek; because such hiding was dark but warm-

"-...warm-" -because he was clutching at their legs, wasn't he? Back then they must have thought it was cute but if he think about it again now, wasn't that sexual harassment?

"You're saying something?" Cail looked behind again, finding Duo's face had changed color to a beet red.

"No;-nothing, forget it! I'll forget it too!" he said flustered; waving both hands at his front.

The man frowned but let it pass.

'_-...found you!'_

Duo blinked.

'_-found you, Duo!'_

For some reason his memory resurfaced that voice; it was clear and innocent, with a tint of laughter in it. Like the light that was pouring in into his darkness; the clear voice that ruptured his silence... so that was Relena's... was it?

Duo blinked again, repeatedly; his vision was clouded by the fear that resurfaced along with the memory. Why would he- ...no; why did he fear Relena? So much that his mind decided to erase the memory about her from his mind...?

"-wah!" he yelped and reflexively covered his eyes with a hand; he didn't realize they'd reach the other end of that whatever-way and the dim light struck his eyes had felt like a ray of sunny daylight. "-sorry; that surprised me..." he mumbled shyly when the man looked at him strangely while extending his hand to help him out of the tunnel.

The other side was with wider space -width and height, and less grim looking. Duo looked up as they started to walk again and actually saw a balcony with a flower pot on it; after taking up some stairs he just realized that it was the market of that place when he saw a lot of people occupying the alleys. The sellers were doing their business from the stalls in the walls of the alleyways. And since the building plan was that jumbled, some stalls were actually halfway under the alley-ground's line and some were half-story elevated from it, including balconies; some sellers had their stalls on the flying-buttresses with their goods tied in links and dangled down like festoons or curtains, although he wasn't really sure what those goods were -judging from their forms or colors; some sellers used baskets attached with sticks at their ends as the extensions of their hands, some used pulley-carts or buckets; some sellers were on their boats and their patrons were on the bridges or balconies or even doors. It was a festivity of jumbled-ness but still looked like a festival.

"This part seems livelier, right?" Cail smiled and nudged Duo to move.

Duo caught his mind back and swallowed it with a click of his teeth and flushed face; was he gaping that wide? ...for how long?

They pushed their ways into the crowd, and managed to elude some lawmen who were searching for 'a braided-girl that had insulted the officials in the witness of the Judge', they said. Clearly they were not the ones from the bar, they're just their comrades; but couldn't they be more accurate with the search-description? Duo complained with a sigh, and Cail chuckled at his troubled look knowing he was more offended about being misidentified as a girl instead of being the culprit. A taste of his own poison...?

After hearing another misidentification of 'an overly-muscled girl with long braid' Cail couldn't help but laughed out loud; at the time, Duo had already had a severe pout and walked rigidly -trying to not move like a girl- ahead of the man. A report of 'a monstrous-looking girl with long braid' set his laughing-bubbles burst like fireworks; he tried saying sorry between his laughing fit at Duo who walked so fast trying to escape the man he almost looked like gliding on the stone ground.

Cail tried to catch up to him, and called out. "-WAIT! hahahaahahha-sorry...-Duo!" and he was just about to say that at this point Duo probably didn't need to worry about those men searching for him since with their search-descriptions clearly they wouldn't spot him as a suspect. "-Duo, I'm sorry! -haahhahahah- please wait!"

"Well!" Duo turned behind in a snap and put his hands on his hips; "-Sorry for having no muscles as a girl-...!" and because of his speed, the hood fell from his head; and his words died in his mouth when he saw the Lieutenant lost his laughter and was staring behind him with widened eyes, cuing him with alert.

Duo froze when his ears caught two or three men's voices he recognized from the bar not too far from where he was standing; probably from another alley since he was incidentally decided to stop in the middle of a circling-junction. Judging from Cail's reaction, he must have seen them behind him.

Duo cursed; one of them seemingly had the curse to be spotted... most probably him. This morning was that misunderstanding with Heero he had yet to straighten; and now with his pursuers. That reminded him that he should apologize to Heero soon, he wasn't calling him disgusting and-

"THAT'S HER!" the triumphant yell directed at him made Duo jump.

-if he showed them his 'hahaha' down there; would they let him go since he's not a girl? His little-mind wondered, while watching Cail ran to him with an extended hand and the scene looked like a slow motion to his alerted-senses; and his ears picked up the men's heavy footsteps hitting the stone grounds with their boots jangling chains making metal clinks, and their shouts were filled with dark intentions, and Cail's face filled with worried more than guilt -the man had genuine heart, Duo thought; he just felt sorry that he'd make the man afraid of him too, just like the others.

His fingers twitched; if he flicked his hand just with a little twist at those men behind him he could erase them from this world just as easily, this time it should be justified, right? Since he was acting in self-defense... or maybe he should at least let them get some hits or kicks landed on his body just to make his excuse justifiable to common's standards?

Yes... perhaps if he bleeds a little in the process it'll be justified- he smiled sweetly and moved his head to turn around...

-Diiingggggg...

A calm gentle chime of a bell penetrated his mind, two lines of whites fluttering in the stale air, shouts of surprised men; a tug on his right arm...

"What are you doing, we should hurry and run!" Cail's right arm had already circled his shoulders; he was pressed to the man's body, right arm held in a tight grip by the man's left hand; as if he was trying to cover Duo using his own body. Or just embrace him... Duo let out his breath when he heard the man's heartbeats close to his ears; he widened his eyes in shock when he recalled what his mind had justified to do just now.

-Diiingggggg...

The chime heard again, clearer and at the same time calmer. Duo took a chance to glance behind, Cail was taller than him so he couldn't really see much, but his eyes caught the lining women in white long-dresses who walked the slowest pace he'd ever seen, they had white long veils covering the top halve of their faces to their backs, almost sweeping the grounds; the lower parts of their under gowns were lined with black cloth, probably to compromise with the dirty grounds as they walked through the most unclean part of that place. They had tight collars leaving only their chin up visible, the whole image made him remembered of the Mothers in the Covenant; the ones in the front-most hold two long staffs with a colorful pleated-rope at their top ends where an old metal bell hung in the middle. Between the two lines, a single woman with black veil tilted her head towards them when he caught her as Cail took him to turn into another alley; her long-dress was all-white pooling on the dirty surface yet still unsoiled, her feet was not visible but the way she glided was as if she was on a smooth ice-like surface or downright floating. Her air was cold and unchangeable that Duo shivered when he thought she was glancing at him.

-_she's not real!_ His mind warned him.

-Diiingggggg...

The sound jerked Duo and he flailed his arms to free himself from the man's clutch. "-who are those Ladies?" he asked while fixing his hood back once he'd freed.

"The Ladies of Mercy; they're like your Earthly Mothers, in a way..." Cail answered while still keeping his arm behind Duo's back. "We're lucky, people down here wouldn't dare cut their lines; they'd give us some time to get out of here!" he urged indirectly.

Yes, those men didn't seem like they could cut through those women's way eventhough they're looking desperate enough to do just that, Duo thought. "Why not?" he asked.

Cail blinked at him, guessing what that half-sentenced question was about. "No-one dare cutting the Ladies' lines, or their way?" he asked, Duo nodded. The man took a deep breath and sighed, "They're ill." he said, "...people are sick down here; even worse down there. They couldn't afford to buy medicines from the surface; the government of this place turned a blind eye to them, so they only have those Ladies to help them..."

Duo frowned, "What kind of sickness?"

"It's called Factory-sickness; but fearing the officials, people shortened it to Fact.."

They reached the stable and got on their horses; Cail paid an extra couple of silver coins to the stable boy to keep him quiet and left him closing the stable and ran home with a very wide grin on his face since he got no more animal to guard there. At least when the officials got to the stable, the boy wouldn't be there.

After reaching the waterway, Cail turned to Duo with a frown; the boy hadn't uttered a sound after they got their horses, seemingly in a serious thinking. He let him be and took a look out for anything that might still chase them down; although that was unlikely to happen, the Factory residences also needed a special pass to get out of there. It's as hard to get out from as it's hard to get in.

-_Fact_.

He might have misunderstood the Mothers, then.

'_Duo, the Silens of Sillua Covenant had pointed the King's City and its surrounding towns. Could you find some facts there while you visit your cousin?_' one Mother asked him, but he thought it was just an excuse to oust him out of the Covenant since they couldn't handle him anymore.

'_Facts about what, Mother?_'

'_hm-hm.. you'll know when you found them...!_' she chuckled and said lightly, which had sounded like a made-up excuse.

"...-you meant this _Fact_...?" Duo whispered to himself.

"Lieutenant, do you know what caused the sickness?"

"No." the man answered, staring at Duo's face and studying his expression as Duo pulled his mind into another deep thought.

Duo had asked to be allowed to have an outing to the surrounding towns first thing as he'd reached the Palace; that was his term to Treize, after that outing he said he'd do anything Treize wanted of him. That was the outing where he got ambushed by the beasts; he'd suspected that his older cousin had a back up escorts somewhere in their way when his soldiers escort failed, and that was Odin's party. And that reminded him that he hadn't thanked the demon for finding him.

Now, when was it that the beasts started to follow him openly? The reason for that could have been something that he shouldn't have found.

"...Lake Nivdell!" Duo muttered. The large lake was almost dry, leaving less than one-third of its original water volume; the officials there had said that it was the heat in the past years that had left the mountain peaks with less snow compared to the long-passed years, because it was a glaciate lake. And it was such a waste too for the new dam to have been finished. "...the dam..." -_what if it was actually another Factory?_

"Lieutenant..." Duo called softly, "The Verve-Factory produces weapons as well?"

Duo didn't need a verbal answer; the man's discreetly caught look had given enough answer. So he wasn't targeted for ambush because of his name, but because the culprit had thought that Treize had sent him to investigate.

Weapons.

War.

King's City.

He gritted his teeth; no wonder Treize was so paranoid, this Kingdom might be facing a coup soon. And if the political power changed hands, Heero's status would be compromised-

A shift in the air, and his horse neighed in alarm.

"Duo...!" Cail called out. Duo looked up to where the man's eyes trained; the wires were shining bluish dim light. "RUN!" the man suddenly yelled.

Duo only reacted because he heard the sounds of heavy clangs of the metal doors hit the bases of the waterways; they came from all around them. "Are those the guillotine gates?!" Duo asked loudly, the clanging sounds were reverberating through the hollow spaces and tunnels, and bounced by the walls and water surfaces making their actual sources impossible to be recognized.

"YES! DON'T GET SEPARATED!" Cail pressed with urgency; if someone was high enough to have the authorization to operate the water gates, then it wouldn't those low ranked lawmen. It couldn't be the Great Judge doing this just because of what happened in the bar, but if someone knew who he was body-guarding right now... wouldn't that mean the assassins were working with the Palace Officials too? Or it was their scheme... The Great Judge, whether he was just or unjust, he'd go down if anything to happen to the General's cousin while all fingers pointing at him as the culprit for abusing his authorization of operating the water-gates. Two birds with one stone... or just one gate-

-CLANG!

And Duo horse neighed standing on its hind legs; Cail looked behind with widened eyes at the closed gate, he knew when they got separated then the culprit would let the water flood in, since Duo wouldn't know which waterway safe enough from drowning.

"DUO, DON'T TURN RIGHT!" he shouted.

"TOO LATE...!" Duo's shout had a tint of fear in his voice, "THE WATER'S ALREADY IN!" and he had to take the right turn since it's the only way opened. With sinking feeling he realized he was like a rat in a maze waiting to sink. "Draumr, I only have you to find the way...!" he whispered to his horse, and she glanced at him back nodding her understanding.

"DUO, DON'T TAKE TOO MANY WAYS UP; THEY'RE MORE SECURELY SEALED TO GUARD THE WATER FROM SPILLING...!"

Duo heard Cail shouted again; for some reason his logics had said something like that too, but he was supposed to head up too to find the way out... right? -since he was going to the surface and all...

"TWO MORE GATES, LEFT TURN!"

Duo looked up and saw the Lieutenant on a waterway two rows up from him to his left side; he was about to nod at the man but the clang of the closing gate in front of him forced his horse to take the right turn at the second gate. So someone who operated the gates could actually see them, he thought; he searched up and around to see anything resembled a beast, a proxy-bird or probably a gecko in that kind of place. Another clang and a splash of water almost surprised him off the horse's back; he yelped in surprise, she neighed in objection.

"-I'm sorry, I'll concentrate on thi- WAHpp!" an opened gate full of water managed to flush him until he was forced to grabbed the horse's neck while she took another way, accelerating her speed since now the water height chasing them had drown her legs to her knees, slowing her down. Duo was coughing out the water from his airway when he heard the Lieutenant's shout again...

"LEFT, DUO! TAKE LEFT!"

And another clang answered the man making him turned right.

"...RIGHT! RIGHT FROM THERE!" the man's voice sounded desperate; but the suddenly closed gates in front of him forced him to turn to the opposite direction.

Duo cursed under his breath, if only he could find that proxy-eyes...!

Cail widened his eyes when he realized the closed gates with water behind them, just ahead of Duo; the operator must have spent some time to set up this kind of trap. "BACK, DUO! GO BAACK!" he yelled just as he entered a sloping tunnel that cut off his vision of the outside scenery. The length of the tunnel only kept him in the dark for about 30 seconds with his speed, but it was the longest 30 seconds of the man's life. When he was out of the tunnel, he looked up and the scene presented to him was of a certain waterway spilling its liquid content like a waterfall at a certain junction. "NOOOOO-!" he shouted in shock, knowing that waterway was more than 4 meters deep, even if Duo could stand on the horse back for some air, the water would probably sweep him away.

He gritted his teeth and took his horse to run faster, and reached the other end after only taking two more turns; jumped down from his horse, he ran to find a higher place where he could see the certain waterway from any possible opening. With labored breaths he stood in front of a barred balcony three stories up from the exact waterway; it was filled with water and there was no Duo and his horse in sight. He searched desperately with his eyes in the other visible waterways as well; but after about 10 minutes passed, even after the water in the waterway decreased to its original stream, he still found nothing. He lost hope and grabbed the trellis, banging his forehead over and over while muttering curse words, sounding angry and miserable and guilty.

"...excuse me, Sir..." a girl's voice said politely from behind him; Cail ignored her, banging his head even harder trying to scare her away. "I just wanted to tell you... that I wouldn't be held responsible for the bump on your forehead later...!"

Cail stopped and took a pause before turning his head with a gasp.

Duo was standing behind him with a big grin on his face, dripping wet but in one piece. He'd liked to act out as a girl in his guise, taken quite a confidence from such ability, even; he was offended about the muscled-thing parts.

"-ough! ...okay..." he let out with a breath when the man held him in a bear hug. "-ummm... Lieutenant..." he tapped the man's back lightly; "...that's hard enough; thank-you...!" he complained; it's enough if only Treize intended to crush him with a bear hug every time he got out of some trouble.

"-hahhhh! I thought for sure that the General would have my hide this time...!" the man dropped to his knees, still holding Duo's shoulders with head hung, looking like he was begging Duo for something.

"That's your main concern...?!" Duo frowned with an agitated tone but his mouth was still grinning.

Cail chuckled deeply, "I guess...!" he quipped.

"Kyaaa! Please don't mind us...!" several walking girls with baskets in their hands cut their moment as they ran hastily to another alley.

Duo stared them wide-eyed, and realized what they might look like right now. "-we... we're not doing anything!" he shouted innocently to the girls. The way they giggled unpleasantly reminded him of Relena's high-pitched giggles this morning.

"...yeeeeeeet...!" the girls shouted in unison, and giggled some more, eventhough they had vanished from Duo's sight.

Cail pulled his hands from Duo's shoulders a little too forcefully, and he looked like he felt awkward for that. "uhm... I'm sorry, this happens a lot down here; I should've been more careful...!" he said averting his eyes from Duo's questioning gaze and stood up. There were knock marks on his forehead that would definitely turned to bruises later, but he should at least be thankful there were no actual bumps there.

Duo could guess what he was talking about, but he thought he'd try to make the man feel less awkward. "...a lot? Flushing waterways...?"

"No." Cail turned his head from Duo's intense innocent gaze. He cleared his throat, "-uhh... boys...-"

"-prostitutes?"

Cail snapped his head at Duo at that, finding the boy's level face.

"Palace men came here for that, right?" he asked levelly; the man could say nothing, and nodded. "...I kind of suspect that from someone's words..." he smiled to himself; he was talking about Heero's politeness towards him when they just met and took shelter in that one cave. And he knew male prostitutes wouldn't make scandals of later-found illegitimate children to hide too...

"Well..." Duo smiled to the man, "I just happy that you could call my name without feeling awkward anymore, Lieutenant...!"

Cail blinked and sported a little blush on his cheeks. "I just think that you're not being fair, Duo...!"

Duo blinked, losing his smile.

"You realized that you've been calling me 'Lieutenant' the whole time eventhough you said you didn't want to stand out?" the man asked slowly.

"AAAHH!" Duo gaped. The man snickered.

"I'm sorry- I didn't realize that someone would target us because of that...!"

And the man's hand on Duo's forehead stopped his outburst. "I'm glad you're alright. Please try to call me by my name?"

It's Duo's turn to sport a blush; "Cail... I'm sorry." he said quietly.

Cail laughed and slung his arm around Duo's shoulders. "Okay, where's your horse, Duo?"

"I left her over there... finding the way to here took more time than to come out of the waterways; I'm sorry for making you worried that much..." Duo pointed down to his left.

Cail sighed while they walked to where Duo had pointed. "...did you get out by my directions?"

Duo chuckled; "I was preoccupied to find the proxy-eyes at first; Draumr was the one following your directions, turning back and turned right. After that I kind of realized you meant to turn right-right-left from where I couldn't move forward...!"

Cail sighed and wiped his face, his shoulders sagged. "...so you didn't get my message...!" He had thought that it was too hard to decipher in such a short moment too.

"I was in panic, I'll try to think things with cooler head next time I get into trouble. I'm grateful that you've proven yourself reliable enough for the job, Cail...!" Duo tried cheering him up.

Cail laughed dryly; "ahaha... seems like I owe your horse a thank-you, then..."

Duo laughed, "We both do, alright? Fair enough, right...?!"

For a moment the Lieutenant thought that his life might not be that long, with a certain General's sweet smile looming over him too. Promoting him for the job despite its impending hazards, it could've been the Commander's way of taking revenge at him for making him separated with his demon in that outing. And who ever said that Odin wasn't one to take grudge over passed matters...?

"I do get into troubles a lot. They love me... I'm sorry!" Duo said apologetically once they got to his horse.

Cail pulled his mind back after hearing those words; or more like he felt like being slapped by those words, he shouldn't have complained too, it was his task from his superior... "-No; it's my job to keep you safe. Don't mind it." he tried a smile looking up at Duo's face on his horse.

-right... since if it's not Odin taking revenge at him, then it must be the General punishing him for ever losing his dear-cousin while he was in command... Oh, weren't his superiors proven to be reliable mature adults by now...?

Cail sighed deeply with sagged shoulders. He might have to buy new undergarments too, who knows when the General would skin him; he wouldn't want to be skinned while using dirty underwear, right...?

Duo pretended he didn't hear what the Lieutenant had been muttering to himself for some time; he probably should ask his cousin to not frighten his subordinates too much.

* * *

><p>"It helps them focused on their tasks...!" Treize said with confidence.<p>

He should've known Treize would say that.

"You were out?"

"Yes..." Duo sighed, feeling apologetic to the Lieutenant, and the other men that had fear his cousin so much, knowing that Treize was actually enjoying frightening them.

"Without telling me?"

"You gave me a bodyguard; I shouldn't be bothering you with lesser reports, right?"

Treize lost his smile and stared at him intently. Duo blinked at the window and pretended he didn't realize his staring.

"I could bother you with something else?" he tried.

"Okay..." Treize's tone was a little too nifty to Duo's ears, but he let it slide. He just needed his older cousin to know that he knew...

"Do you need help from the Covenant?"

"What for?" Treize's smile returned.

"To help with the sick people. The Silens did send me here with a task, you know..." he turned his head from the window; Treize was staring at him with calculating smile. So he was giving Treize trouble; Duo thought.

"You don't need to bother yourself with that. I'm handling it, Duo...!"

Duo stared at him from in front of the window lining with Treize's study chair; he looked refined as always, composed with a little sly-confidence radiating his smile, his posture relaxed and graceful; his desk was always filled with stacks of papers, and he never looked tired even if it was late at night, like now. It didn't look like he was soloing in reforming the whole Kingdom.

He sighed and put the chocolate cup in his hand on the small table at his side, and walked towards his older cousin and sat at the armchair facing the man. "Aren't you tired smiling?" he asked playing with the man's blond hair.

"I trained a lot since I was small...!" Treize chuckled.

"Mm-hmm..." Duo pulled his blond head into his embrace, stroking the back of his head and nape while rubbing his chin to the soft blond locks.

"What kind of service is this, Duo?" Treize asked calmly.

"...just service..." Duo smiled and closed his eyes, continuing what he was doing, and hummed a gentle song softly. He knew he wasn't blood-related with that man, eventhough Treize had been saying the opposite, and acted exactly to his words. But the Maxwells were '_everyone's cousins_'; when a Maxwell born, the baby instantly taken into a Noble's household... it was a cunning way to own all Maxwells as the Kingdom's property. He knew that Treize would use him as weapon sooner or later, he just felt grateful that Treize would care for him like he was actually related to himself as if they were real family; if his suspicion was right that the Kingdom was facing a latent coup, then he should cherish his family-playing moment whenever he could.

"Duo..." Treize tried, "...are you tired?"

"Yes..."

"You don't want to sleep alone?"

Duo chuckled at that, finding it funny. "I can sleep well by myself at this age, Treize, thank-you for the offer...!"

". . . . . . you didn't get to sleep again after we moved you to your knew room last night...!"

"Hmm... I worried you unnecessarily, hm?" Duo smiled.

"You're not unnecessary!" Treize pushed Duo by the arms at arm-length; the suddenness surprised him, and the intensity in Treize's eyes were somewhat filled with anger.

...so the war was coming sooner than later... that's why he was needed to be in the Palace, not laying dormant in some Covenant.

He gazed into his older cousin's eyes, feeling remorse for his weakness and finding an urge to find solitude in the darkness. Treize's smile used to comfort him when he was small; it's the one thing that pulled him out of the darkness where he used to hide. He just had to realize that he wasn't a small child anymore; and that Treize wasn't pledging his life to him, it was for the King... or whoever it was that he was seeing in the man's eyes right now. For one thing Duo knew it was not for him...

"I'm going to bed now, Treize..." he smiled a little; "Unless you're the one who couldn't sleep alone...?" he closed with a chuckle.

Treize lost his intensity, and just realized just how much strength he was using to grip Duo's arms. "-sorry..."

"Good night!" Duo bowed and stole a peck on his cheek. He didn't care if Treize left bruises on his arms; it just meant that someone cared enough for him to hold him that hard. He was happy that he finally get to be useful; if Treize asked him to go to the Demon Kingdom and try taking it down by himself, he'd do just that... just as long as Heero wasn't harmed.

The door closed quietly, the Lieutenant who was waiting outside would follow Duo to his new room; he'd arranged a connected room for the man so that he could be close by 24 hours.

But why was his heart still not calmed?

"Riankitten."

A small mass of black smoke burst on the desk and formed a black cat with two very-long tails circling the spacious study making two giant rings. The-cat flicked _his_ tails and turned to a small girl, sitting on the desk facing the General with _his_ feet dangling from the edge to the man's laps.

"...he's dead?" Treize asked levelly.

The-cat nodded once.

"You find the killer?"

The-cat shook _his_ head. "I found one black feather in the operating chamber... on the Judge's chest, just before the man's neatly folded hands... it was crow's."

Treize frowned. "Did you find the Command?"

The-cat shook again. "There was no window to the operating chamber; the only door was locked from the inside, and one of the keys was still hung on the Judge's necklace around his neck..."

"Is that so...?" Treize frowned deeper; the other key should be in the **Master**'s hand. "Could it be a shape-shifter?"

"...but _she_ was there... tailing your cousin...!" the-cat whispered.

Treize closed his eyes, knowing _she_ belonged to whom. "What did _she_ want?"

"Nothing... just watching... For now." the-cat tilted _his_ head examining Treize's face. "You're tired..."

"Just a little bored." Treize denied.

"Then..." the-cat looked almost like trying to smile, or maybe snarling; "...**Master** is waiting for you in his chamber...!"

Treize was instantly on his feet. "He's arrived? You could've reported that first...!"

The-cat hissed and jumped to his shoulder, hugging his blond head and circled _his_ tails around his neck possessively. "You-want-Judge-first!" he accused with a snarl, although _his_ slow-chanted words beat his angry tone.

"You're right; my apology...!" Treize said, walking to the doors, while stroking the-cat's black head to calm _his_ jealousy down; which was kind of awkward-looking since the-cat's head was currently on his own head.

* * *

><p><em>He is standing in the dark again.<em>

_He knows he'd wake up in that darkness;  
>this time he's the one seeking it for solitude.<br>A clump of worm-like black-body floats in a standstill in front of him;  
>he knows what's inside it.<em>

_Heero is there._

_His tormented, pained-looking Heero in a humiliated pose...  
>is waiting in there for him.<br>-Him alone...!_

_He reaches out his right hand towards the body;  
>the claws that construct it unfurl themselves and present that twisted-altar again.<em>

_-And his Heero is still waiting there...  
>pained...<br>tormented...  
>entangled Heero that is futilely twisting his body to get free.<br>He's not screaming mutely this time-  
>eyes closed tightly...<br>several claws are gagging his mouth  
>-he is almost looking like he is gasping for some air.<em>

_He takes a step forward.  
>His right hand seeks those brown locks-<br>tracing the side of the immaculate face slowly,  
>down to his chest, passed a not-beating heart-<br>to the taut midsection pulled in a writhe,  
>to the lower belly...<br>-he still couldn't see the parts below that_

_-though he feels nothing right now;  
>no jealousy,<br>no anger,  
>no hatred,<br>no desire...  
>no love-<br>only a sense of possession._

_With a sudden pull, he pushes his hand back into the demon's stomach;  
>making a hole in the middle of his midsection.<br>A sense of thrill washes over him,  
>he smiles as he stares at his hand sinks in the demon's body passed his wrist...<em>

_-And the demon's closed eyes snap open in an instance;  
>staring right at him...!<em>

Duo jerked and opened his eyes with a deep gasp sounding like a drown animal finally in touch with air, limbs stiffened as if he was trying to lift a heavy burden out of his body.

* * *

><p>On Odin's chest; Heero opened his eyes without a sound...<p>

x - - - - - - - - x

Thanx for reading

(4 more pages and the current project should be finished; it had the WORST time-management so far... we admit that the blame is on us. Maybe we should work on our own story for the time being, but there's more offer to make comics adapted from novels and the payment sounds good; but we're worried that the progress would be like this one again. Since we're not that fond of making comics with scripts from other writers, we just don't have enough love for the characters that way. For saru's case, saru had to be 'in love' with the characters to be able to work, like wanting day and night to 'meet' them; if not, saru's negative-pole will act out, and the building resistance to 'meet' them will rule out the reason to... Do others with bipolar case out there work like this too?)


	18. Chapter 18

**Another -****2****0 march '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: something to laugh about__..__. OOC?_

**chapter 18**

_-And the demon's closed eyes snap open in an instance;  
>staring right at him...!<em>

Duo jerked and opened his eyes with a deep gasp sounding like a drown animal finally in touch with air, limbs stiffened as if he was trying to lift a heavy burden out of his body.

* * *

><p>On Odin's chest; Heero opened his eyes without a sound...<p>

* * *

><p>Duo stared unfocusedly on the ceiling above his bed, his dissociated mind tried to figure things and place and time to a more recognizable existence. There were pins and needles clambered up his limbs, he tried to shake them off, moaning at the sensation as it climbed back up clutching at his nerves.<p>

* * *

><p>Heero blinked his mind back into his body. The steady up-and-down rhythm of Odin's breathing helped him calmed his suddenly wakened awareness; if Odin's sleep was still undisturbed, then the perimeter was safe. He blinked again; there's something wrong with his body...<p>

* * *

><p>Duo sat up, hands placed beside his thighs, groggily gripping on and off at the blanket that pooled on his laps; his toes curled and uncurled trying to find the senses back, now that his limbs had turned numb. Something in his mind felt nervous but awkwardly right...<p>

-it wasn't wrong...!

It's not!

* * *

><p>Heero stared at Odin's sleeping face; unfurled one of his ear-wings and brushed its feathers at the man's face, letting the man fell to a deeper slumber. Straightened his body and crouched between the man's legs; the thin cover slid from his back and he actually shivered...<p>

-something's wrong... _that_ had felt too real...!

He pulled his left hand up and jerked at the sudden sting penetrating his midsection; fighting the sensation down he doubled over hugging his stomach with both hands.

-...someone's attacking him!

* * *

><p>Duo crawled to the edge of his bed; the night was silent, even the night insects didn't disturb the quietness. He dangled his legs from the bed; his soles felt warm when his feet sank on the thick furry carpet, like the carpet burst with green sprouts and flower buds at the places where his feet touched. He could actually smell the scents of the flowers...<p>

A quivering light shone surrounding his right hand; he blinked at the warmth, examined his hand, and clenched his fingers... there were small light beads floated away from his fist every time he opened them. The beads fluttered and circled his hands like they were living things.

The numbness had gone; any unpleasant feelings had gone... Duo stared and he could swear that his ears picked up a soft blissful song hummed in the air. A tear trickled down his cheek, that longing feeling that had been clutching his emptiness reverberated inside...

His _hands_... his Nightmare in him...

-they were feeling exultant to the point he could do nothing but cry it out.

* * *

><p>Heero crawled to the edge of the bed, Odin's sleep was undisturbed by the groggy movements he made; when he managed to reach the bed edge the pain blared in his body, like a sudden booming sound deafening his ears. He moaned and plummeted to the floor, hugging his midsection.<p>

Something was still clutching at his insides, he should get rid of it before Odin wakes up-

Odin answered his worry with soft snores...

Jerkily loosening his body, he pulled out his shaking right hand; finding a smoke-like black trace of power stretched like webs from his pained midsection.

He gritted his teeth and dragged himself on the floor to the bathroom.

-he should wash it off right away...!

Sitting on the bathroom floor using the bathtub to support his body with his left arm; he loosened his right hand from his midsection, making a soft pained sigh as he inspected his abdomen. There was a black round mark on his skin, its edge had wispy transient tendrils seeped out to the outer area, creeping silently soiling the red marks of his body.

"-...khh-!" he gritted his teeth harder, minding any pained moan escaping his mouth that could wake Odin up; clawing at the black mark and sank his fingers in.

* * *

><p>The quivering light died down...<p>

Just when Duo thought he could drown in bliss while watching the mesmerizing dance of the light beads.

A couple of light knocks heard from the adjoining door; he turned his tear-stained face around to find Cail stood by the doorway looking unsure whether he should interrupt him or not...

* * *

><p>Heero lied on the floor, half doubling over and half on his side; trembling in the after-pain. His body felt numb and he almost couldn't feel the floor under him, nor of its cold.<p>

Clenching his fists, he groggily pushed his body up; a familiar face still burned behind his eyelids just before he woke up. He recalled seeing that smiling face somewhere... when he was about losing his awareness as well, just like now. He thought he was picking up wrong senses at that time, but it wasn't incorrect now... he did felt a spark when he blacked out in the woods.

-it's you...

"-so it was you... Duo-..." he hissed when he somewhat rested his back to the bathtub's side; inspecting the black smoky traces still lingering between his fingers.

"-. . . Maxwell . . . !" he whispered acidly.

* * *

><p>Odin woke up to the cool air and the endless brushing sounds coming from the bathroom. He frowned in complaint and propped his body with his elbows, finding the demon wasn't on him and the cover was pooled around his feet; and feeling somewhat vexed when he realized this was the second time his demon woke up before him and fled somewhere by himself.<p>

"So you have a better way to put someone to sleep than those sleeping drugs the hunters made...!" Odin commented coolly folding his arms on his chest, resting his back to the bathroom doorframe; "Despite that, you can't sleep?"

Heero heard the annoyance in Odin's sarcasm, he glanced a little at the direction his voice came from, didn't care enough to see the man in form; his hand didn't falter.

Odin snorted angrily, making sure the demon could recognize it; eventhough the sight of his naked demon sitting on the laundry mat and covered by the suds was enough to chase away his irritation, but he didn't want to let the demon know it. "Do you need to do that _now_...?!"

Heero didn't answer and continued brushing the thick blanket on the laundry mat; he still had a couple more waiting in the basket beside him.

Odin sighed out his resignation loudly, and walked towards the demon; reaching out for the hunched presented back with a hand, intending to offer his help.

"Go away."

Odin froze when his fingers were just about to touch the suds on the demon's back; that voice, -no... the tone he said it with was something he'd never heard before. It was almost like the sound of a snarling angry dog. He blinked several times, recalling anything that he might have done that could anger the demon to that extent, and couldn't remember any. Squatting behind the demon, he contemplated whether he should do as told or forced the demon to communicate.

". . . did I anger you?"

"No. Go away!"

The demon's brushing hand didn't falter its pace, nor picking up rhythm that might indicate rising emotion. Odin silenced in incomprehension; he could at least catch that the demon wasn't angry -or whatever he was feeling right now- at him. But that edge in his tone... it was wariness, bordering to... being offended? And he thought his demon couldn't even develop such feeling in him-

"...did someone attack you in your sleep?"

The sounds of the brush answered him.

"Let me see...!" Odin pulled the demon's left arm, and was a little angry when the demon swung his left arm with that much power that sent him flying to the doorway; growling, he pushed his right hand at his side and used it to stop his momentum when his elbow collided with the bathroom wall at the doorframe. The impact broke the mirror at the adjacent wall, leaving cracks on its surface; and he snarled as he pulled his embedded elbow from the wall, staring at the demon with wild eyes.

Heero stared at the man with cold gaze, wasn't showing any feeling besides wanting to drive Odin out of the bathroom. At some point Odin actually thought that the demon didn't recognize him anymore.

"What do you want...?!" Odin growled low, slowly, with enough acid that could chill his men to freeze in fear.

"Go away!" the demon repeated; eyes ice-cold, and at the time Odin knew he was being acknowledged as only 'human' to the demon's mind.

Growling his anger out, Odin walked out from the bathroom in mad strides, closing the door with a hard bang. Parts of the broken doorframe and crushed wall and cracked mirror fell to the floor at his leave; Heero spared a second to glance at the falling debris and turned back to his laundry with indifferent look.

The man made some bustling jerky sounds in the room, and the demon thought he was taking his anger out at something else -presumably the bed from the rustling sounds- and pretended he didn't hear it. Suddenly the door yanked open with hard enough force that the upper hinge broke with a crisp sound, and Odin stared at him with a satisfied leer on his face.

"If you can't sleep..." the man almost purred with vengeance shining in his narrowed eyes; "...I'll keep you wet until morning!"

* * *

><p>Outside, on the landing, Lix rumbled its complaint for the commotion once; without even opening its eyes.<p>

* * *

><p>Morning light came somewhat late that day; the dark clouds hang on the sky and poured cold drizzles into the thick air.<p>

Lix shook its body while closing its eyes, the sheen of water caught on it crest and skin jumped from its surface like tiny beads when it rumbled its yawning purr. It looked up to the sky and pushed its long tongue out, catching the small drips of shower and used it to lick its eyes clean. The kind of weather was its favorite, something gloomy and cold with strong winds blowing shivers to the bones; it's the kind of weather that made you want to curl up with the one you love and purr your heart out while hugging each other.

...though, it shouldn't be the kind of weather to hang your laundry out; Lix thought blinking at the wet cloths fluttering by the winds.

The clinks and splashes from the kitchenette told it that its rider was currently washing the tableware. From the smell still lingering in the room, it knew Odin had asked for quite a heavy meal; he was now on his chair wearing his boots and some gears... probably going to kidnap some of his subordinates to the practice court and bully them under such perfect weather. There was a heavy satisfied air around him, its rider hadn't utter a single word since their commotion last night; Lix cocked its head recognizing its rider's rejecting air... if it's up to it, Lix would say that its rider had a lizard-pout right now; despite it could only see his back from its view point.

"Lesard... don't get into the room!" Odin muttered when he stood up, taking his sword belt from the chair's back and put it on with a swift movement. Lix rumbled its confirmation and clucked out a question about the different-looking room; having its long neck almost completely extended into the room from the landing door.

Odin turned at the lizard with an annoyed frown and lips pulled down; "-don't start!" he grumbled and fastened the clasps of his black robe; he wanted to dress up for today... even more if he'd go out to bully someone.

"You're going to the practice court." the demon's flat words stopped the man at the door. He didn't need to answer, since the demon wasn't questioning him either. "Stay away from the General's cousin."

"-since he's dangerous?" Odin smirked at the demon's back, with a matter-of-factly cynical tone; his eyes half-consciously stared at the apron ties tied in a perfect-looking bow behind the demon's waist.

The demon turned around and gave Odin a warning stare. "Yes." he said with a final tone.

Odin snorted and opened the door; "I won't look for him, but I won't flee if he comes to find me either." he said before closing the door from the outside.

Loosening the apron and folded it, Heero sighed to the table. If Odin wouldn't let it go, then he just had to come to his superior. With a determined frown he put the apron into the kitchen cabinet and put his jacket on.

'...Krrrrrrrrh...?' Lix purred a question at him, blinking in confusion.

"Watch the laundry for me, Lix." its rider said levelly before disappearing behind the closed door.

Lix blinked again to itself, cocking its head to the sides as it inspected the room. Hmmm, how should it put it in a lizard's way; the room was... '-Quack...?' it asked to the empty room. Then stared at the fluttering drapes glistened even in the gloomy light.

-_yes, the room was looking quack...!_ The lizard concluded.

Lix nodded with satisfaction and pulled its head out, resting its belly on the cold landing floor and enjoyed the scene of fluttering wet cloths in the strong wind, with the sight of boiling dark clouds in the sky as the background. Well, if only it could have its rider secured between its body and curling tail, then it'd be perfect...

* * *

><p>Treize frowned at the paper held up-side-down in his left hand; his right hand curled on his chin in a thinking pose. He'd been doing that for almost half an hour and he didn't realize it himself.<p>

Last night... what **Master** had told him...; he sighed and frowned deeper.

"Excuse me, Milord...?" his attendant asked pushing the food cart, going to prepare his breakfast; Treize was too deep in thought he didn't hear the man knocked the door before.

Blinking his mind back, he cued the man to stop preparing food; he wasn't in the mood to eat right now. His attendant recognized his expression and prepared the black-flower tea for him, and set the cup on the long table before he bowed his leave.

"Milord...?" the man asked before he opened the door, an uncertainty tinged his tone.

"Yes?" Treize asked while stacking the papers on his desk.

"The Palace Demon is here asking for your time...!"

Treize arched a brow at that; "Well? Send him in, he usually do without too much formality...!"

"Yes, this time he said he's filing a formal complaint, Milord...!" the attendant bowed, hiding his fear.

Treize paused for several seconds. "...formal complaint?" After 10 years? Well, he thought that should happen sooner or later, it's inevitable; if it was anyone else beside the demon, such thing should have come years before...

"Yes, Milord."

"About what?" Treize blinked.

"Uhmm... His Owner, Milord...!" the attendant said with a small voice.

"Whaat?" Treize's both brows arched in skepticism. He cued the man to send the demon in, and dismiss the paling man.

Heero came in with determined frown shadowing his narrowed eyes; one of the Sixth escorted him and was a little objecting when Treize cued him to go back to his guarding post outside his door, instead he backed down to the door and joined his comrade standing at the inside of the doorway.

Treize let his warriors do what they thought was best for his safety and walked to the long sofa, pleasing Heero to sit at the matching sofa separated by the long table where his tea of black-flower bud slowly blooming in the hot water and oozing its color out. "Care for a drink, Heero?" he tried, picking the tea cup while examining its color; knowing the demon would decline.

Heero only stared at him; to tell the truth, the intensity was somewhat unnerved Treize but he didn't want to let it showed... if he showed it, his warriors would certainly seize the demon on his standing spot.

"What complaint are you filing against Odin?" he decided to cut to the chase.

"You are his superior." the demon said levelly.

Treize snickered, "Are you complaining about that?"

"Do you find that fact funny?" the demon asked, not the slightest bit impressed. Treize cleared his throat realizing that the demon was in a too serious mood.

"I apologize. Your complaint...?" he asked openly.

"Odin." the demon said.

After waiting for about 30 seconds, Treize raised his brows. "Odin what...?"

"You are his superior." the demon repeated.

"Yeess?" Treize asked a little impatiently; and caught what the demon meant. "-...oh, you mean when it concerns you...?" he asked. The demon nodded once. "I guess it depends on what you're complaining about, Heero..."

The demon blinked once, and stared at him for some moment.

"Wait. You can complain about _Odin_ to _me_?" Treize asked skeptically.

"It's not against the contract, if that's what you mean." the demon said.

Treize blinked. "...it's not?"

"I can complain about his misconduct to anyone else as long as he approved...-"

Treize put his hand to the front. "Wait, please. So, you're saying Odin, your _Contract_, wants you to complain to me about his misbehavior instead, rather than having you complaining to _him_...?!" he asked slowly.

"Yes." Heero said simply.

Treize gaped.

"Why...?"

"He likes bothering you."

-clink; the tea cup rattled against its saucer in his suddenly lax hand, he caught himself and put them down onto the table again before he spilled the tea.

"So..." Treize tried to smile again, "Odin wants you to complain to me about what, exactly...?"

"It's not what he's complaining; he just wants me to complain to you..."

"Yes, yes; so you're complaining about him, since he consented of you complaining about anything to me, but he didn't know that you're complaining about _him_ to _me_. Does that cover it?" Treize asked.

"Basically."

"So... your complaint?" Treize asked impatiently.

"Odin kept me wet all night-"

"-AAAAAAAHHHH!" Treize exclaimed, hitting his shin on the table and spilled his black colored tea.

The demon blinked.

"WHY do you have to complain about THAT to ME...?!" Treize asked with accusing tone.

Heero stared him levelly; he thought he already explained the basic. Treize took some deep breaths trying to regain his composedness again.

"...so you're complaining about his night activity...!" the man tried with different words.

"The activity he made me do-"

"Okay! Spare me the details. Your complaint is...?!" Treize raised his voice.

Heero stared Treize deeply; he understood that before him right now was more likely to be -just- Treize; not General Treize, or Cousin Treize... "The dirty bed sheets-"

"-Would you care to walk me to the Library, Heero?" Treize stood up instantly, hitting the table in the process and completely knocked the tea cup over; grabbed a stack of books from his desk and shoved them to the demon's chest and dragged him to the door.

"Changing place won't change my complaint." Heero commented while letting the flustered blond pushed him with an arm around his back.

"Well, you could change your words!" Treize said fast matter-of-factly.

Heero thought about it for a moment. He wasn't even stating his complaint yet since Treize kept cutting his sentences in the middle... "Alright." he agreed, sensing that Treize turned all ear to him. "The cloths."

"Cloths, what?" Treize frowned.

"I'm complaining about the cloths." Heero tried again.

"You might want to give me a preamble about that simple complaint of yours...?" Treize's smile had a pointy edge at one end.

"In the past week Odin wasn't available, he made a mess with the bedding-"

"The details, PLEASSSSE...?!" Treize was flustered again; though it was unlikely of him, it only showed how much he was in stress right now.

Heero blinked at him. "You want detailed details?"

"GOD, noooo-!" Treize's face turned red and pale at the same time; and he didn't have to exclaim every time he said something too, the demon thought, since the man was keeping him under an arm so they could talk with silent voice... wasn't that what he intended in the first place? Or else what's the point of asking him to accompany the man to the library...?

"So, he said if I couldn't sleep he'd make me wet till morning-"

"Heero, -pleassse?!" Treize gritted his teeth, a vein popped on his temple.

Heero looked up, narrowed his eyes at the man's face next to him. "Why do you keep cutting my words every time I speak?" he asked somewhat annoyed.

"You should talk with Odin if it concerns you. What do you expect from complaining to me?" Treize asked with a bothered tone. "Or are you expecting me to pass your complaint to **Master** himself since Odin would only take orders from **Master** when it concerns you...?!"

The demon blinked at Treize with incomprehension, with a little dejected stare that Treize felt a little guilty for his words; or maybe he should change his tone a bit.

He sighed deeply; "Listen, Heero..." he began, but didn't exactly know the right words to say either; so he thought he should at least lessen the demon's negative sentiments first so Heero could discuss his objections to Odin in a way that Odin would understand. "I belief Odin is matured...-"

A pair of narrowed prussian eyes stared at him with skepticism made him rectify his thoughts; "-That is, to some extent... But I belief he's matured enough to hear your words if you try to communicate with him in the way he could understand-...!"

Treize paused and cleared his throat, his own words made even himself to think that he was talking about communicating with a five year old kid.

"He understood. He said there's nothing else for substitute-"

"-So!" Treize cut again, "In that case perhaps I'll have a talk with him to appreciate his leisure time in a way that wouldn't burden you-"

"No. It's just the cloths-" Heero cut, thinking that the man had misunderstood his every word since he kept cutting his sentences, while he already made a simple complaint in two words about the bedding too.

A sharp thumping sound heard from the open corridor visible at the next turn, a blow felt on the demon's left cheek; and he widened his eyes, shining with possessiveness and perturbation. He shoved the books in his hands to Treize's chest and dashed to the open corridor in attack mode, wings spread wide open in their full glory.

The surprised Treize caught the books and let a couple fell to the floor; three of The Sixth who were following behind him jumped in alert and ran passed him. "-wait!" Treize objected and tried to catch the dashing parties. He'd be damned if anyone in the Palace dared to anger the demon to the extent that he'd openly attack any human-

Odin was standing with dignified -unhappy- frown beside the balustrade; Heero was in the air, charging with his right hand swung at the perpetrator that attacked his Owner; and a person in black was in the middle of a backflip dodging the demon's attack, jumping off from the open corridor of the fifth floor.

Treize widened his eyes at the long braid that caught his sight before disappearing down. "DUO-!"

Odin spared a glance at Treize running towards him, passing his three warriors; while the demon landed on the balustrade for a split second before jumping off, hands clutched behind his wings before he swung them down midair.

Duo saw some glints before he landed with some more backflips on the ground before he could dampen his momentum, sliding backwards on his feet and a hand; without a swishing sound, several ice-colored crystals of giant blades stabbed the grounds with deafening boom, sealing his escape route making a semi-circled crisscrossing wall.

The demon landed with one foot without a sound.

Duo frowned in objection at him. Heero scowled angrily at the Maxwell.

-Odin knew he'd warned him about this boy...!

The three warriors gathered beside the balustrade next to Treize, surprised at the open assault the demon showed.

"STOP THIS!" Treize shouted down. "Odin, what is this about...?!" he turned to the cool-looking man staring imposingly to the ground below. The Lieutenant looked flustered several steps away at the other side of Odin, his body hunched forward, hands clutching at the balustrade as if he'd jump down to his charge's side; with guilty expression marred his face. He was there, and he should have stopped it from happening.

"Apologize!" the demon barked with a clear voice; Treize instantly looked down again, never once the demon raised his voice in a threatening manner in the past 10 years, he always posed himself as a placid minor under the man's claim of dominance; let alone attacking a human physically.

"Apologize to Odin!" the demon repeated.

Treize understood what happened. "Duo attacked you?" he asked disbelievingly at the man beside him. "How...?!" he pressed.

Odin didn't say anything, didn't even spare a glance at the General; only looking down coldly, frowning at the braided boy looking up meeting his eyes with heated gaze.

"ODIN!" Duo shouted, "I'LL DO MORE THAN JUST HIT YOU IF-...!"

Heero didn't need to hear the rest. Several booms marked another set of blades cutting through the stone ground, narrowing Duo's space at his sides, making an opening for the frontal attack. At the split second Treize looked down again, Duo was fending off a double pointed blade in Heero's hand with a small black chain stretched in his hands above his face. They struggled with their strengths for a moment; the ground under Duo's feet broke with a loud sound under the oppression. At that point Treize knew the demon didn't hold back his power.

"HEERO, STOP RIGHT NOW!" Treize shouted, realizing some men had gathered hearing the loud sounds and watching from around them.

Some more black chains swished from behind Duo, lashing at the demon like snakes whipping around rapidly; it forced him to jump back and landed soundlessly again, as if he had no actual weight; or he could just negate the gravitation to his liking. He swung the blade down with a relax move, the blade turned to a thin crystal stick with a chink sound and held diagonally behind his back. Duo didn't recognize the material of those ice-like crystals, a flash of memory made him recall about the wire-wings he still had in his bag that he'd forgotten to return along with the white fur-hat; if it was any kind of metal, his chain should have managed to corrode it just now. The strong wind passed between the crisscrossing wall around him, and his ears didn't pick up any metal-reading bounced back into the air, nor any known-substance reading he'd ever heard; and growing up with the Wordly Mothers in the Covenant making charms, he'd met with almost every known materials humans could find, and quite some that only known to charm-makers.

Heero was tilting his head up, looking at Odin; the man's air hadn't changed a bit and he knew Odin didn't mind his action; urging him to continue, even. Holding the thin stick horizontally behind his back, he gripped at it with both hands stretched at his sides; with another swing down, the stick separated into two and as his hands fell beside his thighs, they burst into multiple blades with another reverberating chink sounds; making forms like piling peacock-tails behind him.

Duo blinked at the show, brows twitched in amusement; he never witnessed a demon's assault before, only heard stories and myths. The Mothers only told him that demons' arts were very much something he'd never seen before, and thus he should be prepared to face anything. But he never thought demon's art would be so beautiful; he didn't realize he was so mesmerized he actually blush a little.

"DUO, JUST APOLOGIZE...!" Treize shouted, knowing that Odin actually consented to the assault.

Duo frowned at his older cousin as if he was insulted; with a snarl he glared at Odin again. -It wasn't his fault; it was the man's fault!

Heero let loose at that display of challenge; swinging his hands at once and throwing the crystal-forms at Duo. The crystals detached themselves in the air turning to single-formed projectiles of blades.

Duo smirked at the raining blades, stooped his body in a stance; he thought the forms in Heero's hands would be used as projectiles too. Touching his right palm to the ground, he let his _hands_ seeped out for the first time in his life-

With endless chink sounds, the projectiles hit the giant blades around Duo, and as they broke together they made more sharp metallic sounds; the shards gusted in the air like a blizzard, turning the scene into white; they burst passed the spot where Duo stood in multiple flows and they turned back in successions of ever-changing maneuvers.

"-...he lost his mind...!" Treize heard the witnessing men murmured frightfully; and looked down again when they made a wave of 'oooh' with different levels of surprise.

There was a black spherical storm rotating at the place where Duo stood, formed from a smoky black substance that made a see-through wall where he was obviously glaring poisons at Odin.

Treize had had enough.

"DUO MAXWELL, STOP AT THIS INSTANCE. THAT'S AN ORDER!" he shouted with an authoritarian voice that shook the air. The gaping spectators gasped together and stared disbelievingly at the General up on the fifth terrace.

Odin's brow twitched at the name. The white blizzard stopped assaulting and burst to shining feathers that floated leisurely in the wind towards the demon.

A collective inhale; and the short-lived silence broke into a parade of shouts and cheering for the Maxwell's name. The soldiers, having been depending on the Maxwells for centuries during the fights with the demons; that were plunged to desperation when all Maxwells committed suicide 15 years ago; suddenly found their will to fight again in just a second of knowledge for knowing that even only a Maxwell left alive... however inexperienced that Maxwell could be.

Odin turned his head a little to his side, staring at the General with impassive face; Treize was, only realizing what outcome his slip had caused, looking like he wanted to paste his own head to the balustrade over and over if that could undo his mistake.

The black storm died down almost instantly when Duo gasped, staring wide-eyed at the floating shining substances dancing in the air. So those were the demon's wing feathers, he appreciated with a pleasant blush. No wonder Heero said he'd die if he touched his wings...!

Odin frowned at Duo's expressions; he didn't catch enmity in his air, the boy only showed admiration and excitement facing his demon one on one. The demon had even launched a lethal attack at him, and he only grew more and more enticed...? What's wrong with that? -wait, he realized it now; being the only Maxwell grew up by himself, the boy didn't have any experienced Maxwell teaching him how to use his arts despite his aptitude to fight the demons on equal grounds; this happening was an eye-opener to him and the demon only pulled out his proficiency and eagerness more and more.

Odin growled at Duo's widening grin as the boy chuckled hungrily, and recognized the growing excitement bordering to insanity shining in the boy's eyes. "Heero!" he called out and cued his demon to come back to his side with a flick of his chin.

Duo's brows twitched again unpleasantly; glancing at Treize, and thought that Treize could throw up a whole wrath at him after this but he's not going to back down just yet. Not now when his blood boiled with excitement that he felt like being alive for the first time...!

"No, you're not going ANYWHERE YEEETT!" he shouted with a wide grin and smashed his right hand to the ground. A circular black wave washed the ground with him as the center, looking like a bubble that was surrounding him had just burst and rushed outwards; a sudden clinking metal chains crashed loudly that stopped the cheering spectators as the ground shook stronger.

Odin widened his eyes with alert at the spread black chains on the ground centering at Duo making a circular sun-like pattern; it was a seal! And a cursed one at that...! Heero told him he'd never fight anyone to this level before! Odin opened his mouth, about to give his demon the order to retreat... -no; to not move, but the sight of Heero's wings furled and snapped tightly to the sides of his face froze the man. The sight was eerily familiar...

Duo lost his fervor when he looked up -as he was stooping at the moment- and saw the demon's wings closed flatly to his face again; was that intended? What happened to him in the woods and for the most part of their journey back to the Palace... Heero intentionally suspended his own consciousness to escape him...?! Duo widened his eyes, feeling betrayed.

Heero was currently tilting his head up at Odin, his eyes turned serene when his wings closed; his body was turning a little towards his Owner, accommodating him to look up at such angle. When Heero's eyelids drooped and face started turning away from him, Odin knew the demon was deliberately taking that seal. Closing his eyes, the demon turned one foot at a time on the ground, facing Duo and stood still. There was a long ringing sound as the seal accelerating to life; the chains spreading in horizontal lines -that were the ray-parts penetrating the circular loops of the sun-body, started shining black geyser-like power.

And then, with sequencing chinks; three black-light blades burst from the ground, penetrating the demon's body; the first one came from in front of him, diagonally penetrating him at his midsection to his back; the other two came from his sides, forming an 'X' penetrating him from below his elbows through the upper-arms, keeping his hands unmoving. Treize gasped in horror when he witnessed it happening; he opened his mouth, trying to call out. "-...!" but no voice came out when he realized the madness in Duo's eyes. At that moment, he knew that Duo thought he could actually steal the demon away from Odin.

Heero sighed softly; he didn't need air to breath, but he could accommodate air in his lungs. That said, this was such an occurrence with the same concept, he thought. It's a shame, but he could teach the Maxwell a little as payment for bringing him back to Odin while he was unconscious; if Duo had known that back then his link with Odin was severed, he might have killed Odin on sight as they reached the Palace. Someone indeed said that ignorance is bliss...

"...Dysnaea...fe... Leavaterratha..." he called out softly in a melodious tongue.

Duo blinked with surprise, his triumphant grin suddenly vanished; "-...what?"

"-UWAAAGHH!" he yelled when an unbelievably heavy weight crushed his body to the ground, numbing his body that he even forgotten how to move his limbs or just twitch his fingers. Duo lied on his belly, struggling to breathe; his head was tilted a little to his left, facing the stilled demon. A trickle of blood escaped his gritted teeth; he fell with such an impact and he thought he should at least be grateful that he managed to avoid hitting his chin to the ground, or else he'd be unconscious by now. The weight was heavy and sharp as blades; his panicked mind screaming in dread -_what is this?!_ -_what is this?!_ That he had to shut down his mind for a moment and start over from the demon's words.

"-...what..." he choked a breath, "...-did you say?" Duo asked with trembling voice barely audible.

The demon stared at him levelly with his drooped eyes; at this point, Duo thought he might just stare him down with pity; but Heero only stared at him indifferently.

"Duo-...!" Treize's worried shout was cut by Odin's arm stretched at him cuing the General to not interfere.

"Heero knew his boundary." Odin said flatly.

"How-... khh..." Duo tried and inhale deeper; "-how did you know my mother's name?!" he barked with an angry snarl.

Treize looked surprised, Odin raised his eyebrows; the spectators had stilled to quiet at the sudden turn of event. Heero blinked... "I didn't."

Duo tried to squirm under the weight but only managed to jerk his head a little. "-ghh... you called my mother's name...!" he accused; "Dysnaeri fe-Leavate...-rratha...!".

Oh, that. "I said... 'bless with light'..." Heero said levelly; "...in my native tongue." he added when Duo didn't seem to belief his words.

Duo blinked and stared with incomprehension; Heero sighed at his expression, so no one told the boy...

"The Maxwells used names in my native tongue to gain certain immunities when they need to fight the demons." Heero explained; "Your mother's name means 'blessed with light'... Didn't I tell you before about ancestors' names?"

Duo arched his brows, recalling Heero's words about ancestors and such; so this was what he meant? But the one pinned down by his mother's name was him...! Duo objected in his frantic mind; the demon seemed to know what he was thinking too.

"Unfortunately for you..." Heero began, cursorily glanced at the spread seal on the ground and stared back at Duo lying in center. "You were born in darkness. Total eclipse...?" he said with questioning tone, although he actually made a statement. "You used ground-type curse seal, so I just need to retaliate with a non-ground type blessing." he said lightly.

Duo had a caught look mixed with incomprehension, trying to say something; but the demon thought he could spare the boy the effort.

"Your power has dark-matter as your element, that's why I know you were born under eclipse." Heero said, "The last total eclipse was around 16 years ago, it matched your age. And light should be your natural-nemesis; I figured you used to live in darkness when you were small..."

The Lieutenant widened his eyes at that; the demon could figure out that much just from witnessing his opponent in such a short moment.

"A curse takes a toll from the caster's strength, while a blessing takes power from natural source. Which means, while your strength is being leeched by the curse you use to seal me, and it would last only while you're still alive; my blessing will not fade even if I cease to exist..."

"What?" Treize asked incredulously at Heero's words.

"So as long as there's light around you, you won't be able to get free... unless..." the demon glanced to the sky, "How many hundred or thousand years should the next total eclipse occur again...?"

Duo trembled in realization; "-not... lose...!" he gritted out.

Heero snorted softly; "You're strong as a fighter, but weak as a Maxwell. If you had gone to face the demons, you'd die in the face of your first opponent." he said matter-of-factly. "And this is not about winning or losing. The best way to fight should be to not fight. I'm only protecting Odin from you..."

Duo whimpered; that last part hurt, like a knife to his chest, even more painful than the weight on him.

"You fought naively; if you have time to examine your opponent's strength, you shouldn't let them to examine you before you finish doing it to them." Heero said levelly, "Before you learn to use your soul-armor to protect yourself, you should use weapon-..."

The demon's words stopped abruptly; Odin tilted his head a little as the demon closed his lips and froze. He was indeed clutched by the seal keeping his body immobile, but his air was suddenly turned static too, Odin realized; with a grunt, he pulled his sword from the scabbard and swung it down. The force slashed through the air and tore the ground behind the demon, leaving a deep gash with smoking dust.

Treize didn't expect Odin to do such a thing; he turned to the man with a baffled alert look. His ward alarm hadn't sounded for-

"Little insect...!" Odin growled with a leer.

A breaking sound answered him; the air near the gash cracked like the surface of a mirror or glass, and crashed with a sharp sound, revealing a person coughing by the dust; a large scythe-like weapon held in the person's hand circling the demon's neck from behind. "-THAT'S MEAN, OLD MAN!" the perpetrator accused looking up at Odin, pointing with another similar weapon in the other hand.

Duo froze, the form of those weapons looked familiar, and the person used a large shawl as a turban to cover the head and face, leaving only the eyes visible; but the voice was... -_Myrica?!_

It must not be his imagination only, since he saw the Lieutenant jerked to motion and ran to the stairs. After some moments passed, soldiers with weapons in their arms came running from the building and made a semi circle behind the demon, besieging the perpetrator; Cail was between the ones in the front.

"Hooo...!" the girl said amusedly, "And I thought you are opposing the demon...?"

"You don't have the right to comment on that!" a soldier beat Cail making the retort. Duo recognized three other men from the escorting soldiers of his previous outing.

"-stop..." Duo inhaled, "She's a magic user!" he shouted. A girl who could take on an ambush of flocks of beasts with an excited grin on her face and came out unscathed wouldn't be a match for some soldiers taken down by only several trees...!

"AHAAHAHAAHAHAHHAHA...!" Myrica's laughter roared, standing back to back with the sealed demon; and she flicked her two pickaxes at her sides, their scythe-like beaks curved to the demon's front. They weren't that long when Duo saw them last. "I'm sorry for the intrusion; but I just couldn't help myself...!"

Narrowing her eyes with an invisible grin covered by the turban, she added; "...this _Lord Demon_ here had the most delicious-looking wings I've ever seen...!" she complimented, and the milky crystals of the beaks shone with white light. Duo just realize the uncanny similarity of those crystals with Heero's wing-blades; but as he could only watched in horror, Heero's upper-most wings had already liquefied and absorbed into the crystal-beaks.

The besieging soldiers gasped with a frightened murmur when the beaks burst with crisscrossing crystal blades looking almost like a pair of giant spread-out wings; but they growled strengthening their resolves and started taking careful steps forward.

-_but you're not her match...!_ Duo growled and tried to break free in vain; he didn't even know how he was being oppressed, so he didn't know how to escape from it.

"-Wait! Wait!" Myrica took a step back almost touching her back to the seal-blade protruding from the demon's back.

"You're cowering now...?!" a soldier asked.

"Hahaa! As if...!" Myrica laughed, "I didn't come here to fight with the Palace soldiers; I'm only delivering a package...!" she tried.

At the skeptical alerted eyes directed at her, she continued; "...this?" A blue marble ball rolled from under her waistband, she kicked it with a foot to the air behind her right hand. In a flick she pulled the spread wing-blades into her pickaxes beaks, and snapped her right hand to crush the marble ball with the point of the crystal. The ball broke and gushed out blue smoke, and the shell fell broken to the ground as common glass ball; leaving the blue smoke massed into a bubble of thick cloud with snaps of lightning in it.

She slashed at the cloud twice, making a diagonal cross; and the bubble of cloud inflated like a balloon, and kept swelling to its breaking point and blew up gushing out a strong wind that the soldiers had to cover their faces with their hands. When the wind subsided, exactly 9 weird-clothed men stood on the explosion ground; somewhat looking baffled at the many spectators surrounding the site but passed their surprise fast into alert.

"You sold us!" one of them accused Myrica, pulling out his weapon from behind his back.

"I did nooot!" Myrica denied with a childish tone; "The contract was to get you passed the Palace ward in one piece...! Any of you missing a limb or two in there?!" she retorted.

Duo blinked; so this was the good job she was talking about? Transporting hitmen into the Palace?

The 9 men tsk-ed and growled; "...we were told to dispose you after you're done...!" the first man said; "We say you're done!" and added with a leer; and with that sentence finished, they broke their array; making a sharp war-cry. 4 charged at Myrica -that was about the same as charging the demon; 2 charged at Duo who couldn't move a muscle on the middle of his seal; 3 charged up to the General and Odin, while the first man -seemingly the leader- stood on his ground.

Under the cover of her turban, Myrica grinned savagely, her wild-eyes shone; the soldiers in front of her who caught a glance of her eyes could swear that they saw a beast's eyes... vertical slit of pupils with shining striations on the irises. "If you're going to buy me some food after work; just keep in mind that I EAT EVERYTHING...!" she shouted, activated her crystal beaks, then with invisible speed she swung the pickaxes around and pushed the charging men back to their leader like shooting stars.

The gaping soldiers could only hear slashing and clinking metals in a fast sequence. It appeared that they had quite exchanged some blows when Myrica's cover turban turned victim as it fell to the ground in three large pieces and some minced confetti in the winds.

"Hmp!" she snorted, standing boastfully behind the demon, resting her pickaxes on her shoulders while licking a trickle of blood from a cut on her right cheek. The crystal beaks were still positioned crossing around Heero's neck; Odin narrowed his eyes dangerously when she looked up at him.

"ODIIIN...!" she grinned with challenging tone, "THIS IS FOR 10 YEARS AGO!"

Her long tail swished in a wide arch around the demon's body, marking her zone; it looked like a lizard tail, with scaly snake-like end to the middle of its length and lining white mane along its back, the shocking part was that it turned transparent to invisible as it neared the base, making the tail actually looked like floating behind the girl's rear.

Duo realized then that the thing she used to pull him up when he fell with the broken bridge was that tail; he hadn't forgotten the burnt bleeding wound looped around his arm that had yet to heal. Didn't she say before that girls have tails...?

* * *

><p>A boy with curly grey locks took off his round glasses, and wiped them clean with the front of his baggy tunic. Putting them back on his nose; his blue eyes opened wide, burning everything that occurred on the court ground into his mind. In the whole Kingdom, he was blessed with a pair of eyes that could discern anything.<p>

He smiled to himself from behind a pillar; magic users were his favorite to watch... "Verve-crystals shouldn't be used as weapons...!" he mumbled. "You don't have the abilities to survive them..."

x - - - - - - - - x

x - - - - - - - - x

...this had come out quickly; only three typing sessions, needed to get it out of the mind...

finding human-errors is a little vexing, but... why is that every time saru re-read the already uploaded chapters saru kept finding typing-errors? well, saru won't revise them eventhough saru made corrections in the original, uploading is too time-consuming. please just excuse this-monkey, okay. sorry for the inconvenience...

**thanx for reading**


	19. Chapter 19

**Another -5 may '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.  
>Warning: hmmm... cliffhanger?<em>

**chapter 19**

...the light always bewildered him. He always felt so miserably unhappy and so exaltedly happy at the same time when he was under the light;  
>...bright and confusing lights... warm and sharp...lively and aggressive lights.<br>While the dark calmed him, yet left him felt bereft in its clutch.  
>...cold, unchanging, accepting darkness that was never judgmental nor feeling.<br>in the dark he could be less human, and no one would condemn him.  
>in the dark he could feel less, and he would never judge on himself.<br>...yet,  
>what was this light breaking his wall of darkness?<p>

its clutch was so peaceful he'd want to turn it into chaos...  
>make a mess out of it...<br>rupture its serene facade and make it scream,

_...make it scream his name...!  
>make it beg for him to stop-<em>

"DUO! Stand your ground!"

The bark pulled his plunging mind back to the surface; he blinked a couple times and felt the water running down his side of chin and pooled on the hard surface of the stone ground. _Ahh...great, now everyone's watching me drooling over the demon's face_; he thought... but then again, _STAND **how**, Treize?!_ He looked up acidly from the ends of his eyes to his older cousin up on the fifth terrace; if he could stand up, did Treize think he'd laze around sprawling on the floor showing his unprotected back to the whole world?!

A knowing light chuckle brought his mind back to the stone ground; Duo narrowed his eyes to the person standing behind the statue-like demon... _Why is Myrica here?! Why is she on __**that**__ side? Why the demon...? _

A popping thought made his eyes tear up; so all of that time... she was targeting Heero, right under his nose too...! And while Heero was unconscious... what would she do if Heero wasn't unconscious back then, beat him up into submission? ...but right now, Heero was submitting to his seal... Myrica's target was Odin, it seemed; and he'd let himself be used to capture Heero... from Odin...! He'd snatched Heero from Odin, only to let someone else took him away...!

-No! That's not right... Heero let him do this... Why?

...to teach him a lesson? _Is that it, Heero? ...but I was-_

Sha-cliink.  
>The sharp sound jerked Duo and the thought that he was now showing his unprotected back to the whole world made a shiver ran up his spine, albeit his body was currently feeling numb. He turned his eyes to the hitmen standing on the far right side of the girl; it didn't seem like Myrica's attacks inflicted damage on them, their movements were organized... even up to the smallest motion it almost seemed unreal; like they were dancing in sync. They had their weapons out with only making a single sound... how humane could that be? Now Duo felt an icy claw crept up his spine.<p>

"Hmph!" Duo could hear the girl scoffed.

"...Puppets of Raggfurnac! You're so confident with your _hands_, aren't you?" Myrica said silkily, Duo could picture her grinned condescendingly showing one of her fangs.

Raggfurnac? Treize frowned; they're the underground band of lawless mercenaries doing their work behind the curtains, right? Either way, secrecy should be their motto... _so why are they doing this in the open? -ah, no, wait... she put them in the open!_ He turned his stare to Myrica; _breaking their motto is the same as asking all of their members to target her! And everyone who witness them, too; so..._ He glanced at Odin; _she wanted you to be targeted too?!_

'Kitten... find me their leader!' Treize ordered his familiar in his mind.

'I can't!' the-cat answered in the man's mind as well, _his_ tone wasn't as slurred and melodious in the mind-form; with a stern voice of a male teenager. 'That is one battle I wouldn't want to intrude...!'

'Why's that?' Treize asked, testing.

'For once, the demon wouldn't let me in.' the-cat stared widely at the demon's head, back to back with a grinning Myrica with her tail waggled leisurely around them. '...he allows this; he couldn't use his own hands to deal with the perpetrator, so he used other's...!'

Treize frowned deeper. _Heero would go that far to teach Duo a lesson for attacking his Contract_...? But then again, a demon's Contract is the demon's whole world, after all... And what's that about he's filing a formal complaint about Odin if he'd go this far for stating whom he belong to? Wouldn't that just state that the demon saw him as a tool; General or not... or was it because he was a General? Because he was Odin's General, the man's superior...? The demon was stating that even his Contract's superior was nothing but a tool? Odin let him do that? Or was it his payback for putting his demon in danger in the last outing incident?

Treize glanced again at Odin whose attention wasn't on him at the moment; it's true that he didn't know the man's past and origin. His late father, the previous General, had introduced the man to him as a Commander under him; for all he knew, Odin had been a Commander since forever... that meant, since before he was born; what if the man had been there even since before his father had been born too? What would that implicate...? He thought the palace men had feared Odin for his austerity, sometimes his conflicting childishness over matters; but what if they'd feared him for something else entirely? Something like...

Treize stared down at the 9 men with their weapons out; he narrowed his eyes darkly.

_-...his peers?_

10 years ago... that was when he took over his father's job because **Master** was just allegedly chosen to be the next King, since the King was currently on his death bed. The King and his right-hand man, the Internal Affair General, both lost their lives in a sequence, almost in the same period of time. If someone had designed that... who'd execute that design from behind the curtain...? 10 years ago was also when Odin returned from his outing job for the last time; his father had usually assigned Odin to do certain jobs that would take years to finish; some controversial jobs that he wouldn't have allowed to be done. 10 years ago... the last job his father had assigned Odin ...was to take over the Aurilathan's land that bordered this Kingdom with the demon's kingdom, right? And knowing how strong-willed those Aurilathans were, they'll fight to their last drop of blood than surrendering their land.

..._that's where she came in!_ Treize stared at the grinning Myrica looking excited like she was a child playing her favorite game with _friends_. The expression on her face reminded him of Odin's when he felt excited too, that daredevil's smile of mischief... as if one who'd defy all reasons and logics for the sake of sheer excitement.

A crack of loud thunder that shook the ground jerked Treize out of his train of thought.

Duo was gritting his teeth trying to move anything besides his trembling lips.

Heero was standing unmoving like a statue with the ends of the pickaxes now looking like some giant semitransparent scythes placed around his neck.

Odin didn't seem like he'd move a muscle with those things around his demon's neck.

The soldiers down on the stone ground looking baffled as to whom they should point their weapons to, or whether their efforts made any difference at all.

The Auri girl broke her grin into a wide leer.

-and a heavy rain suddenly came crashing down on them.

And there was the significant unending hiss as the rain hit the 9 men and their weapons, white flame-like aura wafted from them as their weapons shone; notably screamed _verve-crystals_ in their wake. The soldiers murmured and looked discouraged witnessing how bright the white aura was; they had verve-crystal weapons training too, and knew how hard it was to master even the small crystals that were barely flicker out their lights when they were used without using special equipments, let alone using them as hand-weapons... some verve-crystals with a light that strong, could easily take down the Palace if not the whole mountain entirely when they blow up. What kind of skilled men could operate such power in their hands?

The 9 men activated their crystals, making _shlink_ sounds each time a light-blade appeared in the air around their bodies; they were uniformed, a thin lamina of white light, a band of halve a disk with each ends transparent to invisible. The width of the band was around 40-50 cm, just the right width to cut through the thickness of a human body; while its circular width seemingly could be manipulated as the user's wish, and also maneuvered in the air weightlessly.

The surrounding soldiers gasped together and took a step back, glancing at their comrades and nodded their agreement. If the Palace Demon was to be victimize here, even if it was just a wound; the war will be triggered. For better or for worse, they wouldn't let that happen; most of them had their family in the King's City, and that meant they wouldn't let the Palace took the brunt of those hitmen's verve-crystals too. If the King's City lost its Palace, it would be the first to be taken over by the war enemy...!

Taking out their verve-medals, they put them into the slots in their swords' handle; though it was called a verve-medal, it was nothing like what the hitmen used, those raw combustible crystals in hands; the soldiers' medals were just usual metal medals with a small bead of verve-crystal in their center. And its merit was just to enhance the weapon's traits; iron medals to enhance iron swords, steel medals to enhance steel shields...only simple augmentations as that. But they still arranged themselves in a battle formation; the ones who could operate their medals as shield at front, the ones who could use them as long ranged weapons were at the last rows, the ones who were trained to do short ranged fight waited behind the front rows to charge when they got their opening. First, they waited to see who the hitmen target was this time.

"Oh, pleeease!" the Leader said in the middle of his men; "...you're just like small children with matches in hands thinking to take down a fire-spitting Hydra with your game!"

"Hehhe!" Myrica laughed, "I don't hate determined children...!"

The Leader scoffed, "Let's see how much you can _not-hate_ about these children, Aurilathan!" With that, 3 disks flew to the soldiers, repeatedly making ringing sounds as they leaped in the air with ever-changing directions so fast that the soldiers thought they saw more than 3 rolling-lights dancing towards them.

The Lieutenant cursed under his breath; he was one of the middle rows, and he could picture it that his twin swords could cut through the light-disks, only to make them parted and double their number since his swords were not equipped to fend off such material; and they're going to be mince meat in only seconds count. He took a fast glance at Duo at the ground floor, recognizing the boy's horror in his eyes; he wanted to give Duo a parting smile, it had been a short endeavor; he was just feeling remorseful about not being able to carry it to the end, to at least safe-guard the boy out of this peril.

"...run...-" Duo could only gasped it out; knowing what ran through Cail's mind as their eyes met, the man's lips had yet pulled into a smile, ...and the glow of the leaping disks already covered his vision of the man's face. With a hitched breath, Duo closed his eyes; there was something written in his karma that his luck would devour other's luck that was close to him, the Mother in the Covenant said; how he wanted to not belief it...

A series of splash sounds and a wave of surprised yelps later; Duo opened his eyes again when he thought he heard a clear melodious whistle in the air, and his face felt there was no rain poured down on him anymore eventhough he could still hear the sounds of the heavy drops hitting the grounds somewhat faraway. He felt the shift in the air and knew the hitmen were surprised too. He stared at the soldiers and saw the light-disks were embedded on a thin wall of water, formed from the rainfall that cleared a circle from on top of him and the ones on the stone ground as if marking a battlescape; and the water wall was gaining thickness as the heavy rain was still falling from the sky above. Like a circular wall connected the clouds and the grounds, clearing a hole in the dense rainfall.

"AHAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA HAHAHAHAHHAAHHA...!" Myrica laughed exaltedly; "THIS IS GREAT! DEMON WINGS ARE BEST USED TO FIGHT UNASSUMING FOOLS LIKE YOUUU...!" she shouted triumphantly, delighted to see and sensed how surprised the hitmen Leader was; then shouted in anger, "I LIKE BOISTEROUS CHILDREN THAN AN OLDMAN PLAYING WITH DEADBODIES, YOU **COWARD**!"

Deadbodies? Treize glanced at the hitmen; ah, that's why he didn't feel it in his ward... so the leader was a necromancer! "Duo is still inside...!" he said levelly at Odin.

Odin glanced at the General from the end of his eyes; he was actually making a battle-pout right now, for not being able to join the fight knowing that the erected water wall wouldn't let anyone in or out. "...'can't do anything about that!" he growled.

On the ground, with an insulted che, the Leader let his men drove their disks towards Myrica; the girl welcomed the attacks with a happy grin. Her crystals which had absorbed the demon's wings once again opened up their crystal wing-blades, counteracting each disk's leaps in contrasting flaps with their ever-changing movements.

The witnesses murmured their discouragement; what they witnessed wasn't a humane-fight they could intervene. The trails of white lights leaving afterimages in the air, and the wing-blades sprouted from the girl's scythes multiplied each time the attacks gained more speed; it had come to the point where the witnesses' eyes got blinded by the bright battle, and all they could here were endless chinks and flashes.

The girl's victorious cry broke the witnesses' trance, she got her pickaxes held horizontally in the ends of her extended arms; the wing-blades spread fully splashing beads of leftover water from its surface into the air looking almost like a slow motion scene... the hitmen pulled their disks back with a bewildered poses, and in a click, launched themselves back at the girl; their raw verve-crystals turned into more weapon-like forms... sword, dagger, scimitar, machete, battleax, lance; with common and unusual forms, varied in sizes, multiplying the attacks of the disks that rained down on her. Myrica lifted one of her feet off the ground and swung her right hand; and after that, their fight was too fast for common humans' eyes to see.

Duo stared wide-eyed at how she fought, _so that's how she took on the beasts that night_, he thought. His ears picked up a nice sound between the endless battle-sounds, like a melodious breeze or a hum; and as the hitmen thrown one by one from the shining twister, he could hear it clearer that it was a song. Myrica was singing...!

_...'cause your hands are cold on my face,  
>and I don't like to see how much you shivered in drenched clothes,<br>but I like the way your eyes lit up upon seeing my person..._

CRAAASSH!  
>A loud thunder-like sound jerked everyone in surprise, except Odin and the stilled demon; the hitmen thrown scattered around Myrica at various distances. There were water-pillars stood near her, coiling in themselves up to the sky; crackles heard from them as they brushed each other.<p>

"...thunder?" Treize asked in confusion.

"Water's life-force." Odin answered flatly; "...that's what the Factory took from the spring water to make verve-crystals. They take too many out of the water and the water will die; though it'd still be water in appearance..." Odin left his words at that.

Treize's frown darkened. That's what the Factory-sickness was about, wasn't it? Somehow he knew, in the back of his mind, but to actually make a difference in reality took more efforts and time; politics were a drag in real life.

_So... find me a reason why I shouldn't meet you under the rain! _

Myrica smiled, pointing the pickax in her right hand to the nearest hitman who was pulling himself up and with some sickening sounds, wriggled his body to put his broken and dislocated bones back into place.

_I baited your promise and feed on your hope,  
>twisting and bending it to my needs.<br>but I know your heart is even colder than the icy waters;  
>so find me a reason why I should meet you under the rain...!<br>for I know the parting words left unspoken in your mouth,  
>and yet I love the smile you give me one last time-<em>

Treize blinked a couple of times, his dark eyes cleared significantly; he knew this song, it was from one of his favorite plays. "...The Rain Wielder!"

Odin gave a derisive snort; "That brat can wield _any_thing...!" and added with a knowing tone, "You have to subdue that tail, first; it's the _eye_ that could see through everything. Every sound, every breath, every smallest water bead in rain and even the head of the winds; it even has its own consciousness to be able to wield anything, substantial things or not... The creature standing there is what your father feared the most from a beast-clan up north; to be able to wield a human's mind is even worse than the strongest weapon a human could make...!"

_-I'm off to battle now,  
>and your last smile is MINE...!<em>

With that the water-pillars broke into small beads filling the air to every directions; Myrica pulled her now normal-formed pickaxes to the ground and cry out a lament song, and the next thing happened was beyond the humans' imagination... all the water beads shot out towards the water wall like bullets, penetrating every standing object in their ways.

Duo watched in horror when the hitmen struck by countless droplets, and their bodies turned like meshes until their forms ripped to liquid entirely; the wet sickening sounds reached his ears from all around him, and the crystals fell from their users' disappearing hands with clinking sounds as they hit the ground; and all he saw after only seconds count were red water coiling and turning lazily in the air just before the water wall-

-and the demon's eyes focused back with bright awareness...

-and the water wall crashed inwards, and he had to fight to breathe since he was still lying face down on the ground.

And as he tried to cough out the water that entered his mouth and nostrils because of the force; eventhough his eyes were stinging too... he saw a lone figure in a wind-like cloak standing in the spot where the 9 hitmen gathered before. The figure was hunched as if having a heavy burden on his upper back, the wispy clear cloak was visible because of the water weighting and sliding down from its surface.

_So, the water droplets didn't hit him... because of his cloak?_ The Leader's face was covered by the drooping hood, and Duo jerked when eyeballs popped out on its surface randomly; four, seven... eleven... more eyes with varied sizes popped out and rolled until they all focused on him. And as the cloak was of clear wispy substance, it looked as if the eyeballs were floating in the air from a distance.

Duo was still shaken by how easily Myrica wiped out her opponents; he wouldn't go that far as to literally dissolve men into red water, opponents or not... at least he thought he wouldn't! -but that's probably only while his sanity still intact. And his mind focused back to the situation he was in when he heard the fallen raw crystals on the ground activated with a long flashing sound and pulled up to float on their ends as if being controlled by invisible strings.

-and the bright shining crystals' light bloated into crackling balls.

-and that he realized those crackling balls could explode anytime and take out the whole mountain of the Palace.

-and that everyone gaped in surprise and couldn't have enough time to prevent it... and everyone was stilled except for the demon who tore his way off the seal-blades.

-and the light balls shot out to join and self-destruct together, and he could feel it's weight above his back, and Treize's shout reached his ears calling out his name in horror, and the world turned to bright white with a loud popping sound...

...and as the weight of the light crushed him in his white-washed world, he could see the demon's face staring at him with wide eyes; almost looking worried... or probably it was cautious...?

And like its sudden start, the end came suddenly too with a blunt-ending hiss, the weight and light disappeared into the spread seal he still had on the ground. He heard the gasps of surprise from the witnesses and was pretty sure he heard the sounds of some butts hitting the grounds too, and then it turned eerily silent leaving only fast heartbeats and labored breaths for his ears to pick up.

Duo blinked and rolled his eyes to see around as much as he could with his unmoving body; to the cautious looking demon, and bewildered spectators trying to catch their breaths, the wide-eyed Myrica who was almost gaping, and to the wet Leader gritting his teeth in his clear-figure. He realized they were all paralyzed with surprise or relief, but all looking baffled enough he'd found it funny.

Then Duo's grin bloomed slowly until it turned to a leer; he understood what happened...

"Oooohh... I'm sorry for the surprise...!" he narrowed his eyes to the Leader who seemingly thought he was a sitting tied-duck a moment before; "But I have to inform you that my seal wasn't a weapon-negating one; ...it's a weapon-devouring seal!" Duo said pleasantly; and since the Leader didn't witness the process, the man might have thought that the seal on the ground was to seal him since he was petrified on its center and all.

"And thank-you for teaching me a lesson too..." he chuckled, "...this weight is the life-force in the light, right? Like that verve-crystals in their light-form... I could just devour it too!"

Duo's wide-staring eyes looked less humane; and the spread links of the seal floated up from the ground, first from the straight ray-parts squirming up like some waking roots off the soil; and then the circular loops folded inwards budding to the center like a closing flower, turning into a compact dark sphere covering Duo's body. He was grateful that Heero was tearing his way out of his seal-blades, or else he wouldn't be able to do this to free himself, fearing that his curling up links would crush the demon's body in their wake; eventhough they looked like links they were actually nightmares, anyway...

-yes... that's what he couldn't admit before; his power... was his Nightmare.

And his _hands_... were his Nightmare's claws.

So, that could only mean that his Nightmare was himself... That what his Nightmare desired was what he wanted; and what he wanted now was...-

Not over three seconds later, the compact sphere dissipated into black fog; and Duo stood with a victorious leer on his face, an unholy darkness shading his eyes. He was holding a big black scythe with both hands behind him while the black fog swirling lazily around his body, caressing him; and some small black balls floating around. "...but my darkness is not the kind of darkness that could be penetrated by light!" he licked his wet, slightly dripping lips, slowly; "Well... maybe there exists the kind of light that could penetrate it; but not the natural light, I tell you!"

"So... scythe for scythe, balls for balls?" and Duo chuckled low at his -somewhat- joke; "...sorry; should I say 'eyeballs for eyeballs'...?!" he purred and the black balls rolled and their surfaces opened to reveal that they were eyeballs.

An inhuman screech reached Myrica's ears made her tail squirm and wriggle uncomfortably until it disappeared, fleeing the fight. The demon frowned in discomfort for his ears could pick it up clearly; some howls and neighs from afar told them that even the animals in the distance could hear that sound too. Odin glanced around and knew the normal humans could only felt it as an oppressing presence in the air, but his attention was focused on Duo; he didn't think that the boy's talent was to copy other's arts... he should withdraw his demon before things got out of hand. Right after he finished thinking it, Duo's eyes snapped at him, daring him to call out to the demon again; Odin narrowed his eyes at the promise of vengeance in the boy's eyes, and he knew he couldn't do anything else; so he pulled his head back a little, cueing that he wasn't going to use his claim over the demon for now. He reined his fighting-presence in when he saw Duo caught the cue as the dark fire in his eyes dimmed a little.

"...heheehheheheehee..." the Leader chuckled and pulled the attention to him again; he then laughed like mad and spread his arms, fanning the wispy wet cloak away from his body.

Myrica blanched when she saw what was inside the clear cloak; faces... dead faces contorted in various levels of pain, overlapping and some even melted together like some disfigured blob a drunk-baker made in his oven; raw skins, some even skinless... and their eyes were staring-

"I have more dolls than I need with meee...!" the Leader yelled, and his fingers made a multiple pulling motion, like he was truly controlling his dolls using invisible strings tied to the end of each finger; and pulled out several of the bodies out. Three... five... -no, if anyone used a head-count then it should be around twelve, if a half-head was to be considered as one.

"H-...ugck...!" Myrica held her retching reflex halfway up; the putrid smell suddenly invading the air was too much for her sharp nose to handle.

The still gaping spectators made a wave of discouraged voices as they witnessed the appearance of the new dolls the Leader used now; some disfigured almost spider-like mix of limbs and heads and crushed-together bodies, some disfigured centipede-like joined body-parts with several heads melted together into a globule, some more disproportioned creatures that were no longer could be classified as humanoid-looking; but generally they all had long limbs with pointy spike-looking ends. They were covered in somewhat fusty liquid that boiled when the rain hit them and wafted even more foul-smelling gas.

Myrica retched and disguised it as a cursing, pulled her hair around her face as an adequate cover but her knees were already losing strength.

"Sing..." a calm level voice said from behind her, and she remembered that the scythes of her pickaxes were not around the demon's neck anymore, and just realized how heavy they were as those scythes were currently kissing the ground at the sides of the standing demon.

"-hu?" she glanced passed her shoulder and realized that the demon was freed from the seal-blades too.

"Sing." Heero repeated. "...woodsong." He realized the true nature of the Leader's art, it was poison; he wasn't a necromancer but an Insidio... those so-called dolls he was using were living humans... at first. Brushing the surrounding with his senses, he knew the soldiers who fell on their butts were not only because they felt relief that their knees buckled; no, they were already poisoned and soon, while the attention was centered to the new set of dolls the Leader pulled out, the poison would turn them into his new -supply of- dolls. So while everyone was oblivious to that fact, he should deal with it without anyone knowing.

He glanced at the still laughing Leader at his far left; this was probably the man's plan from the beginning, the exploding verve-crystals before was supposedly his last resort... so somehow, there's a chaos element among them making plots backfired and haphazardly reversed. Yes, he knew what that chaos element should be, it's grinning with delight almost drooling over him as he stared it back... that darkness that was shading Duo's eyes and spreading its claws in his body.

"...-I... I can't think much right now!" Myrica said somewhat swaying on her feet; her ears picked up some more butts hitting the grounds as she spoke.

"Any woodsong is fine; I got it from under the ground." the demon said silently, keeping his eyes to Duo and ignoring the disfigured dolls going berserk as they lashed and tumbled over everything; he figured the Leader should find it harder to control those things' movements with their impractical mechanisms, they were just some creepy dough to scare witnesses and buy some time until his poison take effects, after all... and not that tame as his previous hitmen dolls too, it seemed; those hitmen dolls were probably some opponents he met somewhere who were supposed to take his life but then ended up in his clutch.

Myrica tried steadying her heartbeat and sighed, feeling the demon's wing-blades furtively penetrating the grounds from the scythes in her hands; she knew those wings she took from the demon were water-elemental... so, water...ground...woodsong; she thought she knew what the demon expected to hear, and opened her lips-

-_my sixth-lined Father buried a seed in his father's grave,  
>and it sprouted, and it grew, and it bloomed to shelter his head.<br>My fifth-lined Father buried a seed in his father's grave,  
>and it sprouted, and it yawned, and it drooped to shelter his bed...<em>

-CRAASSH  
>Myrica jerked as the air stung, as if crippling her brain; she tried glancing behind, actually knowing it was Duo's power licking the surrounding, meaning to reach the demon and not actually trying to fend off the disfigured dolls although it worked like that somehow... Her left knee buckled and she heard more butts hitting the grounds somewhere; she hissed and tried closing her eyes to ignore the dolls' lashing and the stinging air crackling with black lightning that was Duo's possessiveness that had yet woken up as assaults. She thought she didn't want to wait what kind of assault Duo would lash out when he intended to do it...<p>

-_my forth-lined Father buried a seed in his father's grave,  
>and it sprouted, and it stretched, and it spread to shelter his roof<em>-

"-WAAAAGH!" a horror-filled scream broke her concentration and she snapped her eyes open to a flailing soldier in the clutch of the spider-like doll; he stabbed his sword between the creature's mouth so the thing couldn't chew on his right leg, while his comrades were in a losing fight with the creature's limbs with their weakening strength... but they'd probably blame it to their fears. She panicked a little, thinking that her song wasn't doing anything right now; it was after all just a nursery rhyme and not some grand aria. While thinking that, and realizing that she was mostly propping her body weight with the pickaxes' handles, she closed her eyes again and kept singing.

-_my third-lined Father buried a seed in his father's grave,  
>and it sprouted, and it roused, and it sat to shelter his grove...<em>

Some more panic-filled commotion sounds reached her almost numb mind; she tried ignoring them while a little part of her brain wondering what the _oldman_ and his superior were doing up there besides watching their men fallen prey to the dolls.

Then, in the back of her mind; she felt Duo's condescending snort as his lips were still leering. As if he was enjoying what was happening; and she knew that he was going to move now-

-_my Father's father buried a seed in his father's grave,  
>and it sprouted, and it crawled, and flourished to shelter his land<em>-

She picked up her tempo as she felt Duo's arms raised with the black scythe crackling with raw power above his head; she at least had to get to this part of her song...

-_my dear Father buried a seed in his father's grave,  
>and it sprouted, and it climbed, and it stood to shelter his men!<em>

A loud rumbling noise answered her after she finished that line, she fell to her knees when the ground shook violently; and some reds came out breaking the stone tiles as white crisscrossing walls stood up circling that court. Some inhuman screeches reached her ears and she looked around to see the disfigured dolls were being seized by some tentacle-like red-sprouts pulling them into the ground. The clutched soldiers were thrown down randomly as the dolls' limbs broke and their bodies dissolved and sucked by the sprouts and returned to the earth.

Duo's delighted grin froze on his face; he had yet brought down his scythe to attack, but his targets were missing almost simultaneously. His hands itched to pull that scythe down to anyone, and his eyes landed on the clear-figure of the Leader looking petrified by the sudden happening. He gritted his teeth and hissed at the bewildered man, somehow knowing he'd lose that one target too; the black eyeballs around him locked onto the man and closed and turned into two-pointed spikes, and with just his intent he launched them at the standing man while swinging down the scythe in his hands.

An unimaginably strong tug stopped his scythe halfway, and he widened his eyes as his shooting spikes popped into black fog that shot back into him... and he realized his _possession_ over the field had dissipated as his black lightning was not in the air anymore; and he looked up to see there were red sprouts clutching at his scythe handle from the ground behind him...and his scythe melted into black links again, slipping from the curls of the sprouts and fell back onto him... seeped into his body.

-and somehow the rain had stopped to a very light drizzle; and the boiling dark clouds above cleared, having poured out their content down; and rays of light penetrated the thin layers of clouds and illuminated the court and its baffled occupants as the air turned calm.

Myrica blinked her disbelieving eyes several times, looking up at the dignified white trees stood in front of her with their trunks mingled with one another in a crisscrossing manner that almost seemed unnatural, making diamond-like holes in between, with their bases arching high from the grounds like gates that in fast assessment someone would be reminded of a coliseum; and the red leaves made a canopy high above the Palace buildings making a sudden dense woods in the court as seen from afar.

"-saa...-" she tried to move her tongue correctly; "...Sanctuary trees...!"

And the trees rained down clear-colored pollens that caught the sunlight color and were glistening in the air.

-...and everyone took deep breaths in their calmed surprise; and no one spoke for some time.

And the sprouts stilled when no one pose danger on their grounds anymore and bloomed clusters of white flowers on its ends and along their lengths with long stamens drooping and swaying in the breeze spreading its calming fragrance.

Duo blinked at the somewhat fairytale-looking scene in front of him that suddenly materialized; his minds cleared and his eyes focused at the stilled demon standing unmoving like a part of the beautiful scenery... like he was from a wholly different world.

"-Duo...!" A shout called out to him, "Catch the leader...!" He looked up and saw Treize pointing down, though he still looked a little baffled himself.

Duo turned his eyes to the Leader and just remembered what they were doing a moment ago; and hunched his back as he moved his feet to run towards the man, right hand clenched at his hip ready to throw his _hand_ if needed -although somehow he knew the current field would annul any form of threat. A sharp wind hit his back and he reflexively turned his face behind, and he widened his eyes at the large black claws of a great-crow suddenly appearing behind him; and everything happened so fast that he didn't even have the chance to grit his teeth or say a curse-word... and in a blast of wind the Leader was gone from sight.

"CRRROOOOW...!" the-cat howled sounding almost angry and flashed in _his_ smoke-form after the flying bird with the Insidio in its tallons.

Treize could only gasped clutching the balustrade watching his familiar's departure, but instantly looked down again and his eyes focused on the still kneeling Myrica looking melancholic at the standing trees. "I'd be grateful if you would take my invitation for some briefing, Miss...!" he said sternly.

"-what...?" Myrica jerked from her trance at the authoritarian voice and just realized that the soldiers had already closing her escape routes; "Oh-shoot!" she cursed as she sprang up to her feet again, taking some more deep breaths as much as her lungs could take while assessing her surrounding... focusing her senses at the still light-headed soldiers that were circling around her but somehow made a clear path for Duo's sight -as they probably leaving Duo's front for him to claim, and the confused-looking Duo gaping in his uncertainty watching the proceeding, and the scowling Odin with somewhat smug face up on the terrace, and an angry General at the _oldman_'s side, and the General's three bodyguards ready to launch some magic-fueled weapons at her from the General's side... and the fact that there was still an unmoving demon stood behind her-

She grinned mischievously and pulled her pickaxes from the ground and crossed it behind at the demon's front, satisfied at the angry scowls and curses thrown at her knowing no one would do anything for the time being. "ALATAAA!" she shouted, and a round bright light flared in front of the demon and widened itself, making some kind of a gate with flashes of golden lightning shot out from it to close around their bodies like embracing hands... and Duo jolted in alarm, his other-mind screeched in his brain '_she's taking the demon with her!_'; and he shouted desperately...

"MYRICAAAA-!" ...begging her not to take the demon away; and the bright light engulfed her and Heero's figures and brightened for only seconds span until the soldiers had to close their eyes; and Duo gasped when the light exploded, thinking he wouldn't see anyone in that spot afterwards, but stopped short when the said demon was left standing there alone...undisturbed.

The soldiers made surprised murmurs but instantly broke their circle to search for the missing Auri girl; and Duo was standing some paces in front of the demon breathing heavily, trying to calm his heart and mind.

The demon let him stare unblinkingly at his figure for some more time, waiting the boy calmed his breathing; and then turned away from him.

"-Heero!" Duo called out reflexively with concerns, remembering that the demon had forcefully torn his body off his seal-blades and felt guilty for it.

"Duo! Return to your chamber!" Treize's voice carried an unspoken ultimatum; and he stilled looking up at his older cousin, recognizing Treize's anger on his usually smiling face; and his crazy-excitement died entirely when he recalled that he'd deliberately ignored his cousin's direct order... and in front of so many spectators too. He sighed long and stared at his feet; conceded. His shoulders sagged and his other-mind mocked him about the outcome of all that... that there's nothing gained; only regrets...and unspoken feelings... and the real things he'd wanted to convey to the demon were still left hanging.

Duo gritted his teeth; "Heero...!" he tried calling out again, pleading to the demon to let him say his reasons; but the demon's back said his attention wasn't focused on Duo right now. And without a reaction to his calling, the demon jumped, using the crisscrossing trees as his footing, and landed on the balustrade in front of Odin.

"You're hurt." the demon said almost as he landed, squatting so his face should be at Odin's eye level; while his right hand reflexively sought the man's left end of lips and brushed the already clotted blood there with his forefinger.

Odin reflexively licked the small broken skin and sucked his demon's forefinger into his mouth, a winning smirk tugged at the other end of his lips...

-and Duo felt broken on the stone ground, wishing he'd gone as told so as to not witness that; and a careful hand of the Lieutenant pushed his shoulder gently, whispering his name softly in a calming manner. Biting his lower lip, he walked inside the building in fast strides; feeling anger welled up inside him but this time there was nothing he could vent it out to... and the wind in the corridors felt icy on his heated skin, and his eyes were hot and stinging; and with an angry growl he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and he pretended he didn't hear the Lieutenant's footsteps trying to catch up to him from behind.

A flutter of white cloth caught his sight from the corridor on his left as he passed a junction; the black-hooded Lady in pooling white dress stood as if waiting to catch a glimpse of him passing, and Duo thought he saw her smiled... and the long corridor was somehow wriggling under his feet, and the light assaulted his eyes with vengeance, and his head felt times more heavier... and he welcomed the blackness that greeted him when he closed his eyes.

"Master Duo!" Cail ran and managed to catch Duo's body as it fell backward; "...Duo!" he called out again when he realized the boy was unconscious; after checking his vital signs and so far found no external wounds, he carried Duo to his room.

x - - - - - - - - x  
>x - - - - - - - - x<p>

**thanx for reading**

_saru's note:  
>whoaaa... all those is one scene, hu? (just realized when saru didn't need to go back up to edit the scene-breaker mark)<br>oh, anyway... just realized this too when checking the last chapter, but oops... did saru mess up in the hitmen counting? -innocent face- oh, well, just pretend nothing's wrong, okay? (catslapped!)_


	20. Chapter 20

**Another **** -****2****3 may '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.  
>Warning: something <em>_of a mess of words down there..__. OOC?_

**chapter 20**

_-Cold...  
>He's floating in darkness, weightless... powerless...<br>He knows he's inside his Nightmare's body; he never let it swallowed him before, not even touch him  
>but this feeling of resurgence is somehow right,<em>

_-so this is what it feels like being inside?  
>But this time there's no his Demon clutched in that humiliating way...<em>

Blinking his mind back, he tries moving his limbs  
>...at least a finger manages to curl<p>

_What happened-?  
>Did you lose to anyone-?<em>

_A frown weighs on his brows.  
>-I did.<br>-I lost to my-self...!_

_Taking a quivering deep breath in; a tear rolls down to his temple  
>-...ashamed! <em>

_He covers his eyes with both arms__, his brain doesn't even point it out to his mind that he can move them...  
>that he could escape from there if he wanted to.<br>-why?_

_-why did __**you**__ interfere in that manner?_

_But you wanted __**my**__ power-  
>Why didn't you kill that man-?<br>**I**__ could've eliminated him with a single blow-  
>Why did you hold <em>_**me**__ back-?  
>Why did you protect that man from <em>_**me**__-?_

_-...but I didn't want Heero to hate me!_

_**He hates you, anyway-!**_

Duo opened his eyes instantly; wide, somewhat frightened eyes... the 'voice' in his mind was still ringing in his ears saying its last sentence, as if a loud booming thunder that kept a ghost of its reverberating aftersound in his brain, clamoring in his skull like a commotion of his braincells making a coup against his right mind.

Cail stilled beside the bed, a bowl of water in his left hand, a wet cloth in his right; he blinked and sighed out a relief smile, and sat on the chair and dabbed the wet cloth gently to Duo's face. "I was going to call for the healers to look at you... but then again, I couldn't leave you alone; while being unconscious, even. So I thought I should wait for the General to come here-"

"How long?" Duo asked levelly, keeping his wide eyes staring at the ceiling.

The Lieutenant paused his hand; "You fainted on the first floor of South Wing... and I carried you to here, third floor West Wing; so I counted around...-" the man mulled for a moment; "-20 minutes? I've just put you in your bed a couple minutes ago too... you have great timing!"

Duo blinked and turned his head a little to the man. "...sorry-" he said apologetically.

Cail snorted with a mischievous smile on his lips; "You didn't weigh that much, though...!"

They stared each other for some time; Duo was looking apologetic and miserable, something weighting his tongue, and the Lieutenant knew what it was. "...how are you feeling?"

"-worse...!"

The man rewetted the cloth in his hand; it was warmer from his grip. "I'm sorry; I should have warned you before that happened-"

"-warned me?! Of what I _can_ do...?!" Duo barked with anguish, but instantly regretting his outburst; he covered his face with his crossing arms and whimpered once, feeling ashamed and pathetic.

Cail let the cloth go while stifling a sigh, watching it sank in the water. "...of Commander Odin-" he said silently. He knew his own men labeled him as Odin's archenemy sometime, and that's because Odin liked to bully him in front ot them for no reason too... faith and trust didn't always mean the same thing, after all.

"...that he likes to win?!" Duo asked with an acid tone, the image of the man's leer came unbidden in his mind. So that was what they called _lesson learned_, wasn't it?

'..._asking for my demon again?_' the man's words replayed automatically along with that image;  
>'<em>You seemed like you've grown a fancy for him, Master Duo...! If you could remember to pay me for favors...<em>'

'_I could lend him to you for a night; you just need to ask for it...!_'

-Odin breathed the last sentence in his ear, with a pressurized tone that his mind spontaneously recalled the image of the Heero in his dream; and that was what made him hit the man... but he didn't think Odin would stage Heero to be there to retaliate for that; whether he was serious with his words or just baited him to react with violence- No! The man's smug face told him that Odin was never really offering Heero to him in any way... and he was a fool for falling for that too!

...because the one he wanted to hit at that time was actually himself; because for a fleeting moment he actually contemplated of what he could barter to get to be with Heero; and he hit Odin because he felt the man saw through him and he wanted to cover that slip up. He was the worst! -and while he was disgusted by some rotten men who fantasized of the demon, too...!

"Duo... if you're not hurt..." Cail started a little hesitantly; "...perhaps I could advice you to meet someone?"

"For what?" Duo asked with a hard tone; and the Lieutenant silenced, feeling a little carried away and might have acted pass his own status.

Duo realized what the man felt, but he was still a bit too angry to play nice; so he waited until he could tame his anger at least to halve its heat.

"...why should I?" he asked with a gloomy tone.

"Well..." Cail smiled hiding his hesitance, but it was still audible in his voice; "Since you were asking about her back then in the Factory...?"

Duo didn't react at first, then lowered his covering arms to his chest with a light frown on his face, trying to recall about what happened in the Factory. "That...-"

"Black-hooded Lady in white...?!" he turned at the man.

Cail nodded, somewhat looking guilty; "-although... I shouldn't...!"

Duo instantly bolted to sit. "Okay." he said with a determined frown; he thought he should at least make progress with one thing or other thing.

* * *

><p>The rain had stopped completely, the air was still cool and damp, the clear pollens were glistening in the wind. Someone was not looking cool, though...<p>

The soldiers deserted the now fairytale-looking court carefully, trying to not make too much noise and break the thick air; helping their comrades who were wounded or weakened to get away from there. They didn't need the order or asked permission to leave from the General, somewhat grateful that his angry frown wasn't directed at any of them; so they left before his volcano erupted, so to speak.

Three of the Sixth were standing behind Treize, each looking quite nervous; Odin, on the other hand, looking sideways at the court with drooping eyes, as if he was bored; the demon was still squatting on the balustrade at Odin's side.

Treize sighed deeply for the -nth time, closing his eyes with a deep frown and some popping arteries visible on his temples. He'd been trying to rein in his anger for some time, but he still wanted to explode, anyway...

"Tell me what that was all about, Commander!" he eventually broke the silence; saying ranks instead of names meant that he wasn't in the mood for familiarity right now.

"...it's just a misunderstanding!" Odin snorted, still looking somewhere else.

Treize's brows twitched in anger.

"...Heero?" he asked with a hard tone. The demon didn't answer even after some time, Treize thought he wouldn't answer too. "Didn't I order you to stop?!" he asked with enough pressure.

The demon didn't even blink; though he didn't look at the General either.

Treize gritted his teeth, opened his eyes and closed the gap between them with wide strides; then hit Odin's face as hard as he could, knowing the demon could feel it too by their link as he jerked and widened his eyes a little; the sound was loud enough that the deserting men paused to glance at them and scooted away from around the scene. "You do know your being here means, don't you?!" Treize glared at Odin's face, the small wound at the end of his lips bled again; his hand lowered to Odin's neck and swiftly pulling at his collar. "IT MEANS YOU'RE OWNED BY THIS KINGDOM!" he shouted turning his face to the demon, cuing that he could do anything to Odin with his gesture.

Heero blinked, his expression didn't change; albeit he didn't counter the General's glare.

"DO YOU THINK WHAT YOU JUST DID WOULD GO UNNOTICED?!" Treize shouted again, his face was red with anger; his warriors never seen him that angry before, they stepped back a couple of paces behind, feeling the air was stinging in ripples as the Palace ward reacted to the General's anger... and that's even while his familiar was away.

Odin stared at the General with a dignified frown, still with his droopy eyes looking like a kid who got yelled at but didn't feel the guilt, while the demon still wouldn't meet his eyes.

Treize snorted.

"Tell me why I shouldn't charge you of jeopardizing the whole country...!" Treize said in a much calmer tone, though still sounded angry; looking back and forth at Odin and the demon.

To his dismay both of them kept silent.

"...nothing?" Treize asked with almost a relieved tone. He stared the demon for several seconds and then to Odin; nodding to himself when he was still answered with silence, let Odin's collar go and gave the man's sturdy chest a pat. "Commander Odin of Reconnaissance Troop, 5th Division, 28th Rank. I, hereby-"

"-It's necessary." The demon cut with a soft voice.

Treize blinked, almost pretending he didn't hear it but then frowned in anger again. "Necessary for what?" he almost barked at the demon.

"...to fend my honor." The demon answered.

Treize stared at him for a moment. "...is your honor more important than this kingdom's safety? Than _your own_ oath?"

Then the demon said softly; with a level tone that somehow sounded melodious, still. "I may have groveled even lower than your grounds... but there are still certain things that I cannot allowed myself to accept."

That answer somehow renewed Treize's anger; he snarled and gritted his teeth, holding back an angrier shout released from his mouth. "-Tell me you didn't hurt yourself, then I wouldn't hold you responsible!"

Odin blinked and glanced sideways to his silenced demon.

Treize narrowed his eyes when the demon clamped his mouth. "...so you're _hurt_?" he reached out to the demon with his right hand, which Odin stopped halfway. With a cold frown he glared back to Odin, as the man gripped his arm tightly and gestured that he wouldn't let it go despite their ranks.

"I can't allow you to touch him if he doesn't want you to...!" Odin said levelly.

"Do you think this is a game?!" Treize barked.

"...and I was filing a formal complaint to you..." the demon whispered with almost a disheartened tone.

Two faces snapped at him at the same time, but Odin was the one who looked more surprised and angry. "You were?!"

Treize blinked, widened his eyes with realization; so it's _that_ honor...!

"Shut up or I'll gag you, Heero!" Odin growled.

"Let him speak!" Treize snapped Odin.

Odin's brow twitched hearing the protective tone in Treize's voice; "It's not a big matter-!" he pushed Treize's arm go and circled his arm around the demon's neck and covered his mouth from behind, pulling the demon's head to his own shoulder to keep him from moving.

"It _is_ big enough if it entails the Kingdom's safety!" Treize snarled.

"I'M TELLING YOU, _IT ISN'T_!" Odin raised his voice.

"SO, YOU HAVE NO REASON TO NOT LET HIM SAY IT, THEN!" Treize countered trying to pry Odin's hand from the demon's mouth. "-OR DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTICULAR REASON WHY YOU DON'T WANT ANYONE TO HEAR HIS COMPLAINT, _COMMANDER_?!"

Odin gritted his teeth at that accusing tone, Treize took the moment to pull the demon by the shoulders from Odin's hand.

"-It's alright; you can report anything you want to say, Heero!" Treize encouraged. Odin growled and snatched the demon by the waist from Treize's arms. "-wha...?!"

"-AND WHO DO YOU THINK IS HIS **CONTRACT,** _GENERAL_?!" Odin barked with a really bothered tone and a leer.

"AND WHO DO YOU THINK IS YOUR **SUPERIOR**, _COMMANDER_?!" Treize leered back.

And it kind of developed to something like a family quarrel now, the three warriors thought with sweatdrops; like a Pa and a Ma and a very uncomfortable-looking son between them... or maybe a little-bear; then it would make it a Pa-bear and a Ma-bear... that were growling at each other trying to show off whose fangs were bigger than the other's, right -that could work.

"Ha!-" Odin laughed cynically with a winning tone, knowing that reason had no power since the moment the demon was involved.

"SHUT UP! I CAN GAG YOU TOO, ODIN...!" Treize flustered and covered Odin's mouth with both his hands. "SAY YOUR COMPLAINT, HEERO!" he shouted with a winning tone.

The demon blinked -he rather felt like he was a jar of honey right now.

Odin growled glaring at the General.

The General blinked and turned to the demon; frowning. "Well?!" he challenged.

"-if you dare!-" Odin spoke from behind Treize's hands.

"I dare him!" Treize snapped at Odin. "Heero?!" and turned back to the demon.

The demon looked even more uncomfortable, even with his stoic face; opened his lips a little and stilled, thinking, and clamped them again with a frown, blinking at the floor.

"Heerooo?!" Treize scowled, tapping his foot impatiently; sounded like he felt betrayed that the demon backed away at this point. "Should I just treat this as a matter of treason, then...?!" he threatened.

Odin blinked. "-TREASON?!-" he shouted in incredulity.

"What would you call of an act of disregarding the Kingdom's safety for the sake of one's selfishness?!" Treize challenged.

"-_HIS_ SELFISHNESS...?!" Odin pulled Treize's hands from his mouth.

"_**YOURS**_, ISN'T IT?!" Treize shouted matter-of-factly, challenging Odin with his glare to say more; satisfied when the man gritted his teeth with a growl and couldn't say anything else. When he turned his face to the demon again he was a little surprised finding him staring back with an almost troubled stare. He frowned with a serious expression to the demon, and asked sternly with a calmed tone; "What was it you were complaining?"

The demon frowned, then stared back at the floor, thinning his lips in a gesture that he thought he couldn't deny the matter anymore. Treize pulled his chin up a little with satisfaction, knowing that the demon had made his decision and was about to open his mouth soon.

"-. . . . . . it's..." Heero opened his lips and took a long pause before letting his voice out; "..._**pink**_!" and stated with enough pressure.

Treize stilled, and stared for a moment; thinking that his ears had picked up a wrong word. "...what?"

"The cloths..." Heero frowned in a troubled manner; "...all _**PINK**_!"

Treize blinked repeatedly, his frown turned upwards.

Odin humphed dignifiedly.

"...the what?!" Treize asked impatiently.

"The beddings, curtains, table cloths too; they're all _**pink**_! -SILK! With flowers embroideries and _white lace frills_!" Heero said with accusation.

"Ha...!" Odin laughed cynically, Treize snapped his glare at the man.

"...and what's wrong with that...?" Treize asked the demon back. -_EVERYTHING's wrong!_ The three warriors said in their minds with pale faces, but didn't have enough courage to voice it out.

"Odin's wrong...!" the demon almost shouted through gritted teeth; it was the first that Treize witnessed he made. "I did the laundry! And he put them on...!" he accused.

Treize arched his brows as the demon got more heated.

"-and he was rolling on the bed in his underwear laughing and yelling that SILK is GOOD!"

"Heh...!" Odin grinned condescendingly but turned his face away.

"SILK is NOT good!" the demon almost barked; "His MUSCLED body slipped on the SILK and fell off the edge and hit his head on the nightstand!"

"To think I have to share that kind of pain from his bump is beyond HUMILIATION...!" the demon gritted out and was trembling with anger or shame.

Treize stilled with the blandest expression he ever made in his whole life; there was an exploding weird sound coming from behind him and he turned his face to his three warriors coughing with hunched bodies somewhat clutching at their stomachs with their backs at him, sounding miserable and were trembling by pain.

"Hmph! Don't blame me! Blame your shared link!" Odin snorted. He just wanted to get Heero's attention since the demon had stopped talking to him all of a sudden; and he should have said that it worked, to him, not to the General of all the people... Treize and PINK meant Relena was involved and it would developed into something noisy again, right? -well, he admitted that it was probably childish of him to refuse putting the cloths down this morning... but the demon was making funny -cute- faces when he stormed out of the bathroom after he'd bumped his head on the nightstand, so...-

"I'd better share battle wounds than _that_...!" the demon accused.

-ah...! -_that_ honor...! Treize's blank mind pointed.

Shaking his mind back, Treize tried moving his lips; "-...and, why do you find you need to file it to me...?" He ignored his three warriors coughing with weirder sounds behind him.

"You know why...!" the demon turned at him with fierce stare.

Staring for a moment, Treize pulled his slack jaw up and blinked. -_aaah, reeeeally... -so... Relena slipped her favorite things into Odin's chamber again, for you... and you couldn't turn them down directly... okay-!_

Taking a deep breath while rubbing his face, and let it out with sagged shoulders; he conceded. "...-okay!"

"...but it still doesn't mean that what you did earlier would be gone unnoticed...!" Treize stared from between his opened fingers.

The demon frowned at the floor with acceptance, while Odin chuckled cynically at that. Treize glared at the man; "You go and change them...!" he growled.

"What?!" Odin yelled disbelievingly.

"NOW!" Treize pressed; "...in the mean time, I'll be having a serious talk with your demon in my office; and by the time we get back to your chamber-...!" he paused for pressure, "Those cloths should be ready so I could deal with them!"

Odin tsk-ed in displeasure. "...-yes! Yes!"

"That's an _**order**_, Commander!" Treize roared.

"Yeeess, _Generaaal_...!" Odin answered openly showing his childishness. Treize tsk-ed his annoyance but didn't say anything more as Odin left the scene with an irritated dignified frown to his chamber, growling at the three warriors while they made way for him instantly standing at the ready pretending they're part of the wall and balustrade.

After Odin gone from their sight, Treize sighed deeply as if he was really testing his lungs' performance to their limits. He waited for several moments before muttering to himself, "-I thought my heart exploded...-!"; but he didn't finish his complaint... he shouldn't show weakness under pressure. "How's your wound?" he asked instead.

"Manageable." Heero answered levelly.

Treize nodded and turned around; "Let's continue in my office!" he cued the demon to follow him; the three warriors instantly formed a diamond-formation around the demon, with the General as the head; walking briskly while no one spoke a word in their parade and by-standers ducked from their way.

* * *

><p>"Heero..." Treize began with a gentle voice as soon as he closed the doors, leaving his warriors to guard outside; they would expect him to lash out at the demon for his recklessness but didn't mean they'd want to witness it, so they were grateful for the order.<p>

"...I need you safe and sound for this Kingdom!" the General continued with a sterner tone. "You took it to yourself to be the Peace-contract...!"

The demon blinked at Treize's serious -almost pleading- face; "...you really belief if I got hurt, the demons will come charging here on my behalf?"

The General frowned at the unconcerned way the demon had spoken in. "What-ever-kind of your entourage back home, I'm sure they'd take it as a sign of insult if you are to be harmed in our hands...!" -that's _the theme_ for the past 10 years, right? If it changed now the one who'd take the brunt would be the demon himself; and probably Odin would really turn mercenary as retaliation.

"I don't have entourage, General." The demon said levelly; "-or home. You don't have to worry of the small details-"

"It's my duty to worry of _every_ small detail-!" Treize almost barked. He silenced and averted his gaze to the armoire at his right; "...if your being here doesn't mean anything, then why are you here...?" he almost sounded like he regretted that fact.

"To buy us some time? To buy _them_ some time...? To drown us in our delusion of a truce while it actually meant nothing? This is all just a deception...?!" he glared at the demon's eyes at the last question.

The demon's eyes never betrayed his feelings -if he was capable to have any feelings at all; only staring with calm acceptance, like the eyes of a convict surrendering to his fate as he was facing his executor. Treize took a deep breath and sighed it out slowly; "...sorry..." he mumbled and took the demon's hand in his own and pulled him towards the sofa.

"Sit." He ordered; "...please." and added, knowing the demon would decline even if it was an order; it was his way to remind himself that he was not in that Kingdom for familiarity.

"I'd better stand-"

"Then I'll sit!" Treize cut and threw himself onto the sofa rather roughly, making a loud puff sound. The demon blinked at his hand still gripped in the General's larger hand but didn't say a word.

"Do you know the maxwells?" Treize tried; "-no. It doesn't matter whether you knew them. It's about Duo...-!"

"How is he? From your eyes...?" he looked up to gaze into the demon's eyes; "...he really wouldn't stand a chance against the demons in combat?"

The demon blinked, his brows lifted a millimeter. "I wouldn't know. I never faced the demons in combat." He added when Treize opened his mouth to protest.

"But you said-...!"

"I was pointing out of his soul-armor. If he had one... You knew what those things were." The demon threw the question back.

"Duo never-...!" -_learned to use his soul-armor_; "-showed it out, so...-" Treize looked troubled. "...all Maxwells have theirs, right? He cannot _not have_ his own, right?" -_would he be crazier than his ancestors if he doesn't have it? Would he die of his own power? Would he turn into a different person completely...?_

"Heero..." Treize breathed while clutching the demon's hand with both his and stared at them; "Duo...-after his first release, he'd be..." he swallowed a word before it came out from his mouth, "-his personality will be even more distorted after this...!"

The demon knew that, even when they were glaring at each other on the court; the Maxwell -no... Duo's first release of _hands_ would be his parameter; his body would crave higher level of power-release the next time he use his _hands_... and the state of powerfulness was intoxicating that he'd want to experience it again and again, like a life-drug he couldn't be without, in the expense of his sanity. The curse of the Maxwells for their almighty powers; the soul-armors were their shields to keep their minds from being devoured by their own cravings and power-withdrawals, developed after centuries of tragic self-destruction they brought down upon themselves. But that was why he'd held Duo down on the court, so he wouldn't have a too-high parameter that he'd endanger himself should the next craving surfaced... it's just that he didn't think saying it out loud with so many witnesses would be a good idea; or to point it out to the boy that he should have perfectly constructed his soul-armor at his age; he would've lost his mind, otherwise. -_or maybe, that's exactly the case... __**even more distorted**__ means he's already off-shaped_.

The demon blinked when his eyes focused on Treize's deep gazing eyes trying to read his mind through his eyes. "...you could read what's happening with Duo." He stated softly. "Im begging you...!"; the demon blinked again. "I'm begging you; please help Duo!"

"I don't know how they did it, they just grew up having their soul-armors; I couldn't teach Duo anything about it. The Mothers in the Covenant too, they couldn't help...!" Treize pulled the demon's hand closer in a tighter clutch, touching his own chin; "I was so afraid if he'd start to develope his craving, ...while in his state of mind-!"

"Why are you begging me?" the demon asked levelly, wasn't touched by the show of weakness from the usually composed General that if anyone else should witness them by now they'd thought someone had kidnapped the real General and put a drama actor as his substitute.

"You're a demon...-" Treize smiled with a worried frown; "Heero... you're a demon!"

The demon blinked again, probably to erase the sight of the delirious hopeful expression the General made from his mind. "You want me to sate his hunger every time his craving surfaces and he'd want to beat down some demons with his _hands_?" -_that is contradictory to your duty, right?_ But he didn't voice it.

Treize's face contorted by a grimace and pain and bafflement; he was at a lost to see his cause, he couldn't even accepted his own reasons, the demon thought.

"...I don't know...!" Treize looked like he was fighting back tears. "I just can't lose him, he's important to me!"

"More important than your Kingdom?" the demon asked.

The General whimpered; he knew how hypocritical it had sounded. He clamped his quivering lips and didn't say another word; his trembling hands clutched the demon's hand pressed onto his forehead as if he was praying- ..._begging_ with all his might. Heero realized Treize's tremblings were not due only to the fact that he was tormented mentally; it was the poison in his system too... he should have made him stayed longer and inhale the Sanctuary tree's pollens to cleanse the poison without him noticing. After all, the Insidio must have targeted the General first than him or Odin-

"...Odin said you hold the humans important, too...!" Treize pleaded. "Is that wrong?"

The wings at his temples fluttered for a brief moment, soundlessly, ghosting at the soft brown locks before he claimed his hand back from Treize's clutch; and then cupped the man's cheeks with both hands, making Treize looked back up at his face. "Treize..." he called silently, staring down into the man's soulful eyes; "...this is treason." -and his wings fanned open.

* * *

><p>"You're grinning from ear to ear; did something good happen?"<p>

Vim turned around to the source of the voice, his wide blue eyes were bright and filled with excitement. "No, sir; not really...!" he said poking his small glasses up.

The cook Manager was still in his mid-forties, he was kind and had yet married, so he usually treated the Palace youngsters even more kindly. Vim met him the first time in the Palace Library too, the man had interest in magic books, saying that his ancestors were once magic-doers although their aptitude didn't last after passing several generations to him. He was fascinated in the stories of how they did daily tasks when magic was still everyday thing. Just the usual melancholic believer.

"...really?" the cook manager asked with more pressure.

Vim fast glanced at his right and left and cued the man to bow down so he could whisper in his ear.

"...you what?!" the man clamped his mouth at his loud voice, after cursorily checking that no one looking at their direction he bowed down again. "You were there when that happened?!" he asked incredulously with silent voice, "You shouldn't! That's dangerous! If anything like that ever takes place again, you should run away as far as you could! Promise me you'd do that!" he pressurized the last part; what happened in the court this morning was traveling faster to the whole Palace than the time Vim took to eat his breakfast, anyway -though the court was off-limit to curious spectators for now, but everyone could still see the red leaves canopy sheltering the Palace rooftops around the court from every directions.

The boy blinked several times. "...but I thought you would want to be there too...!"

The cook Manager sighed and dropped to his knees; the thick carpet of the Library dampened the noise and force of the fall. "Vim, son, listen to me...!" he grabbed Vim's shoulders strongly but gently, "There are still magic-wielders in this Palace; some are so good that you wouldn't notice their aptitudes, some are too confident with their talents that they would react in a rather unkind-manner when you have a brush with them... -and I can't say that everyone here is a good person, so you shouldn't involve yourself with such occurrence!" he whispered the last sentence out.

Vim stared widely at the man's eyes; he nodded in a good manner and said, "I'll keep that in mind, sir."

The man searched the boy's eyes for a moment, and nodded when he was satisfied seeing the boy's innocent eyes. Tapping his shoulders lightly, the man stood up and slipped him a small pouch of sweets. "...don't finish them in one go...!" he warned and smiled when Vim smiled at the pouch in his hand with a nice flush on his cheeks. The man chuckled as Vim bowed his thank-you and ruffled the boy's hair before he went out of the Library. He didn't realize that Vim was, more than the fact he was treated to a pouch of sweets, feeling exultant when the man called him 'son'... though he probably had said it in reflex and had no deeper meaning; but he was never called 'son' before in his whole life, his grandmother used to call him 'child' as endearment back home.

Vim opened the pouch ties and took a peek inside; a round maroon candy caught his interest and he pulled it out, examined its color in the light before putting it into his mouth. He rolled it right and left while savoring the fruity flavour. "Mount-cherry, scarce in this season...!" he appreciated. His mind tried not to form the denial in his brain into words... that the man didn't see anything with _his eyes_, although that's probably the man's blessing, having ignorant eyes.

"...with my eyes..." Vim mumbled while rolling the candy in his mouth as he pushed his feet to move, leaving the Library and probably a pair of invisible eyes of a-cat that he knew was there without needing to be physically there.

"That didn't make sense!" he chuckled at his own mind.

* * *

><p>The wooden causeway was long across a patch of high-raised trees of a small jungle behind the Palace, separated from its grand buildings and Royal business; Duo's eyes searched around the scenery and thought that the Palace was built on top a mountain, after all... so he shouldn't be surprised to find a small forest inside the Palace walls. His mind joked that he might find a sage's rundown tower or a witch's creepy hut at the end of the causeway.<p>

To his amazement, a plain white tower greeted him at the end of his walk; it was big enough that he couldn't see the ends to its sides while being covered by the trees, and its arching double-doors were tall enough to open three stories at once. He was looking up with awe at the pointy end of the double-doors when Cail nudged him from behind.

When he turned his face to the front again, the distinctive black-hooded Lady in her pooling white dress was standing two paces from him as if she was part of the door from the start. Duo jumped a step behind and bumped to Cail's body, feeling an encouraging arm circled around his waist as the man bowed politely... or whether it was nervously?

"H-... hello!" Duo tried in reflex. '..._she's a familiar!_' Duo's other-mind whispered in his brain; having seen her face to face up close.

A strong wind swept their bodies that made Duo almost yelp in surprise, he took it rather calmly as it turned around and brushed them again the second time; and he could swear he felt that wind had its own mind as it played around them for some time.

"...Master Duo, I'll be waiting outside...!" Cail suddenly whispered from behind him.

Duo snapped his face at the man with a surprised worried stare.

"...Palace men are not allowed inside...-" Cail mumbled somewhat awkwardly. But he did say that he shouldn't do this back in Duo's room.

One of the double-door panels clicked opened and the Lady _floated_ to her side, pleasing Duo to enter. Duo blinked and somewhat froze when Cail pushed him forward gently, staring awkwardly at the Lady; when he was walking to her front, she turned her head to the Lieutenant and he instantly sought the moment. "Please let him come along? My cousin told him to stay with me as much as he could...!" Duo backpedaled and took Cail's hand in his. He felt like a child then but the atmosphere unnerved him so much that he wouldn't admit it later.

The Lady turned her head forward again, probably allowing them to enter; Duo wouldn't give her the chance to say otherwise, so he said his thank-you fast and pulled Cail along. He felt the man's hand tensed when he passed the Lady and entered the white tower.

Duo imagined that it was dark inside, while the door panel closed behind them; but bright multicolored rays assaulted his eyes before he could even comment about the stone pavement with green grass in-between lied under his feet. He squinted and looked up and struck speechless when he saw the roof of the tower was a dome made of colorful glasswork; as his eyes adapted to the light, he looked around from top to bottom and just realized that the tower was somekind of a glass-house, with a beautiful garden inside. He blinked as he recognized the fountains and waterfalls hanging in the air, and ponds and _floating_ flower-pots. A shrub-maze covered the walls and a rope-bridge floated rounding up the height making such a twist and twirl that his logics said it was impossible for a normal human being to use it. Flowers were blooming everywhere with uncommon colors and gradations; some butterflies and other insects, and crystal-birds flew around making the scenery even more colorful and lively. Small tables and with garden-chairs were set in some centers of the shrub-maze on the walls; a long sofa with thick carpet underneath floated above the pond, with reflection of a blue sky perfectly painted on the water's surface; a piano stood on the canopy of an evergreen tree near the bird-house, with armoires filled with books stood near it; fluffy cushions strewn here and there. A small river snaked in the air with colorful fishes swimming inside; making rainbows as the rays passed through its parts. The breeze playfully blew like it was a natural wind outside a clearing.

At the center, a series of round-hanging-ladders floated still like windchimes hung in the air; at their top, a small round bird-house suspended in the air as if hanging by the rays of colorful lights. It was small compared to the tower, but Duo thought a person could actually use it like a tree-house; in the back of his mind, a certain name kept popping up, reminding him who could actually use such a not-common tree-house in the Palace.

"Duo... you've come!" the polite happy voice greeted him from the bird-house.

Somehow Duo managed to smile back politely betraying the sick feeling that suddenly climbed up to his throat; so this was _the_ Princess Relena's private garden she told him before. No wonder the Lieutenant stiffly kept himself several paces behind him as they walked into the garden, trying to make himself as less noticeable as he could while still keeping a good eye around. He wondered if he needed to keep his _hands_ at ready for facing her again... but the thought of the familiar being around still unnerved him.

Relena jumped from the ladder railing down, her fall slowed down as she neared the tower ground until she completely stopped and floated for a brief moment at the height that if she straightened her bent legs she could stand on her toes on the pavement; her dress inflated like an umbrella and her hands held its front in a cutesy manner. She giggled as her feet touched the ground, looking at Duo's eyes with a light flush on her cheeks; she probably wanted him to comment about her descent.

"...It's faster to go down like this!" she beamed without waiting the comment to come; Duo only blinked at her. She giggled again to cut the awkwardness. "What brings you here? -not that I'm complaining...!" she asked with a smile, glancing at the Lieutenant who bowed politely at her, mumbling "Milady." although she didn't look like she cared about the man as she turned her eyes to Duo again.

Duo stared at her.

Relena blinked and pulled her smile wider.

Duo stared at her.

Relena softened her eyes.

Duo still stared at her.

"...what?" Relena eventually asked.

Duo blinked and pulled his body back a little; "...you live here!" he almost sounded like accusing.

She giggled. "Yes. Treize called it my Leisure Castle, perhaps you heard him said it before?"

"Why?" Duo asked openly, his brows pulled up in curiosity or bafflement although his eyes still shone with wariness.

"The Palace buildings had too much stones-" she tried.

"Why?" Duo repeated with the same tone like a record; Relena blinked at that and giggled with amusement.

Duo stared at her.

She averted her gaze on the cluster of lavender flowers at her right. "I don't want to accidentally meet the demon when I walk around the Palace..."

"Why?" Duo repeated, though his brows curved with more wariness.

"So you played a fun game with the demon this morning..." Relena smiled back at Duo; his mind pointed it wasn't that long ago, since it's still counted as morning now. "Is he alright?"

Duo blinked at the question.

She smiled a sigh out. "...since I see you're alright right now."

Duo blinked, staring at her saddened eyes. ". . . . . . you want him to be alright?"

"Yes; of-course I want him to be alright. He's the Peace-contract, after all...!"

Duo's mind pointed that she'd said 'him' rather than 'it'. A conclusion formed from his braincells-collision almost made his knees buckled. ". . . you like Heero; somehow you thought you should treat me as your rival...!"

Relena smiled, staring at a butterfly resting its transparent wings hanging onto a wisteria. "...why are you here, Duo? Surely it was not to meet me or see my garden."

Duo blinked at the lonely tone in her voice... so he met the sage in her rundown tower who acted as the witch-

"...you're in love with the demon-!" Duo almost didn't feel his tongue moving.

She turned her face at him, her gaze somewhat cold and she looked like she felt insulted. "Is it fun for you to say that out loud?!"

Duo blinked and caught himself. "I'm-... sorry...!" he averted his eyes to the ground, his face felt hot with shame; he shouldn't have said to her face with almost a winning tone like that.

They silenced for a heavy pause. She eventually snorted and relaxed her shoulders.

"What did you come here for...?" she asked levelly.

Duo frowned. "...the Lady-"

"Yes." She giggled again; "So you could see her back in the Factory...!"

Duo looked up at her, frowning deeper. "You have her tailing me...!"

She stared him with a pointing out stare. "Duo...! You're a Maxwell; I have to see if you'll hurt him in any way!"

Duo blinked repeatedly. So he's suddenly the bad guy... -well, yeah; he's probably the bad guy in Heero's eyes too. His eyes darkened at that thought.

Relena snickered, "...though I must admit it was my bad back then in the corridor; I was just teasing you. I didn't thought he'd suddenly show up in the junction. I could only cover it up by laughing and threw the blame at you..."

She shifted her gaze to the lavenders again; "...since I couldn't apologize to him openly..." -_the dignitaries would make it a matter and things would turn hectic again_.

Relena took a deep breath and sighed it out slowly, playing with a lock of hair that fell to her front. "...I was waiting for my gift to be returned, though. I didn't think you'd catch me before it arrived..."

"Your gift?"

"Different story." She brushed off. "So what can I do for you? I supposed I owe that as apology...!"

Duo stared at her.

-she's giving up.

-clutching at her delusions and giving up reality.

Although that's probably all she could do; her status won't allow her to have feelings for the demon, so she could only chase away anything that had interest with the demon too as retaliation. And she still had such a strong feelings after 10 years? -no; in 10 years it had developed even stronger... the pain must have been even more heartrending too.

". . . I'm sorry." Duo said softly, couldn't look at her eyes.

"Don't say that. I'm not sorry for what I did to you...!" she said seriously.

Duo thinned his lips. "You really mean it that I can ask anything?"

She averted her eyes. "As long as I wouldn't get into trouble-" she reasoned evasively.

"You said you have a talent to keep memories." Duo frowned. She turned her eyes to Duo, face neutral; then narrowed her eyes, as if knowing what he'd ask her.

"...you want to see his arrival." She stated.

"You won't share?" Duo didn't say 'can't' intentionally; she caught it too.

"What for?" she asked warily.

"I have to understand..." Duo fisted his hand at his side, "-my place...!" admitting that was harder than fearing about it. "My standing in front of him... How he'd see me-"

"You want to know how to give up?" Relena cut. He clamped his mouth and frowned darkly; but his heart knew that was what he had to do albeit his other-mind protested that knowing it would give him the knowledge of how to round it.

Relena snorted. She knew what Duo felt; but that was what she'd wanted from a long time ago... a friend whom she could share her pain with; not a rival. She was never in the competition, anyway; but Duo could steal that chance from fate, being a Maxwell and all. He just didn't realize it... -eventhough Heero would never accept that.

Duo had asked her to share her most treasured memory; well, she thought it's fine if it could keep him away from the demon... he'll see why he should give up too.

"...alright." Relena said softly. "But I must warn you; the memory you'll see is _my_ memory; so you'll feel certain atmosphere or see certain values that were viewed from my perspective...!"

Duo opened his mouth to say something; but Relena cut him. "-After this...!" she frowned none-too-friendly; "I don't have anything to do with you; regardless of what Treize says. The Maxwells were the demons natural enemies; so I'll treat you as his enemy, Duo!"

He blinked at that, realizing how much she felt for the demon and thought he probably should just stay as far away from her as he could, but his mind said he couldn't back down now; he needed to see how Heero submitted himself to the Contract, after all. That way he could do something about that...

Relena glanced to the Lieutenant who had backed away some paces more behind Duo, pretending to be a part of the scenery to give them privacy. She could try to wipe Duo from existence after this, she thought; since the Lieutenant wouldn't be able to unsheathe his swords in her tower. Yes, that's a plan.

Glancing back at Duo, she called out to her familiar.

'..._Ladyhood...!_'

And instantly feeling the familiar's _possession_ enveloped her body from behind and claimed the air around her and Duo. "Are you ready?" Relena asked Duo and without waiting for his answer, the scenery turned bright white.

x - - - - - - - - x  
>x - - - - - - - - x<p>

**thanx for reading**

_saru's note:  
>since the last chapter was somewhat ended with a steep cliffhanger, saru tried to update fast. Hope you enjoy this 'reasoning'-chapter.<em>


	21. Chapter 21

**Another -****22 june**** '13  
><strong>_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.  
>Warning: hmmm... <em>_lots of things, those names from the anime too -saru doesn't remember which is which... picturing "Relena" is somehow confusing for da'monkey as well OTL_

**chapter ****21**

...the deep tolls fill the air;  
>heavy and suffocating, yet clear like water.<p>

Then,  
>-I must be drowning.<p>

The dim lights pour through the crisscrossing form of the wall,  
>looking brighter than they actually are, like blades piercing into the dark hollow;<br>my breaths come out as subtle white clouds,  
>the rays penetrate their windy substance like some kind of a punishment.<br>It's a cold winter day...  
>The sun is hiding behind the grey clouds,<br>my hands are cold;  
>I try to breathe,<br>so hard...

I must be drowning-

"_-Send them away! We don't need those creatures' interference in such matter- No! In ANY matter at all; we are our own Kingdom!"_

"_For humanity!"  
><em>"_-For humanity!"_

"_Such feeling must be mutual-...!"_

-our reliable Treize says, cutting the empty prideful cheers.

"_Then we don't need to discuss this any further!"_

-General Noventa says with a heavy bark_._

"_I dare say, since it's mutual, the more reason why we need to hear them out! If they could see pass their resentment; why can't we? We are not more spiteful than them, are we?"_

-Treize counters calmly; the bewildered  
>faces of the Dignitaries' are turning red with anger or shame...<br>Perhaps they are angered by the fact that they felt shame for something they shouldn't be ashamed of; that it is justified to feel so, that it has always been the right thing to do or to feel, -to be in the opposing side of the demons... that we are right; that we are never on the wrong side. That we are humans, and rightly so; as said by our ancestors-  
>But Treize always wins in such a game,<br>so I think they should just give up before Brother starts to speak, too...

"_-In the 700 years of this Dynasty's history, there's not once that our ancestors embrace the thought of making peace with the demons...!"_

-and here comes General Septem's history lesson...  
>Really, they should just give up now before-<p>

"_If we don't do something, we'll be history, too!"_

-the bitter truth comes out. You think you need them to hear it, Big Brother;  
>for they are too arrogant to see it by their own eyes.<p>

. . . . . . for even _I_ know such a thing as fact, while they choose to ignore.  
>Father died.<br>Treize's father died before that.  
>Other fathers died too...<p>

I should ask you, Old Men of the Wise;  
>while hiding in the safety of your castles, why can't you see it as facts too?<br>Those fathers' children, aren't they crying outside your castles doors, scraping at your walls for mercy...? -but not one of you even ask that to your own conscience.  
>-or should I keep silent?<p>

"_I didn't call you to hear your complaints; I want you to witness this...!"_

-but Big Brother, you haven't had your coronation yet; you shouldn't make the old Dignitaries  
>your enemy, you know...?<br>They might join forces and give rise to a coup, too;  
>saving their wealth and probably flee to a faraway land when this Kingdom collapses.<br>And Ladyhood had said that it'll be soon enough, too,  
>that such a thing is inevitable;<p>

we are drowning anyway, Big Brother King...  
>The things you hold dear in this Kingdom you love,<br>are drowning in the things you hate in the same very Kingdom who doesn't love you back.

. . . even _I_ know that.

Let's face the bitter truth, too, you and I and the always reliable Treize.  
>That we were born to drown-<p>

"_As the General of the First Army, I reject such a notion, Prince Miliarde!"_

"_General of the Third Army also reject your whim!"_

"_Fourth Commander, in behalf of the Second Army General, also reject your notion!"_

-we are unwanted.  
>Let's accept it with a big heart...<p>

"_Commander of Sixth Division, Fourth Army, hereby speaking for my subordinates; flouting our General's wish with readiness to face death; we are also rejecting your notion...!"_

"_Second Division of Marine Fleet, also flouting!"_

"_Fifth Fleet-...!"_

-. . . that I,

eventhough I might like venturing the secret passages in this Palace, like it was also a game;  
>do not memorize them for fun's sake.<p>

It's for the sake of keeping this life attached to my body when those blades decided that it's time for them to turn against us;  
>when their resentment of the demons backfired and swallow us whole.<br>For when the time comes that I should steal you away from your throne...

You are drowning too, Big Brother King...!

_-Silence! Silence! For all your mouths could let out are just undignified dying bawls...!-  
>-You are breathing curses, in and out, polluting the air and darkening the space; so just die and keep silence!-<em>

"_. . . Are you done?"  
><em>"_Let them in, Treize."_

"_Prince Miliarde; overlooking what your Dignitaries have to say is-"  
>-Silence, you too, Rockefeller!-<em>

...Chime! Chime! The toll is drowning the air.

Eight Lamento in their pale ashen garbs, dragging their white veils along their ways;  
>the steps are short, the pace is slow;<br>their creaking legs are not so eager to condemn.

Chime! Chime! The tolls are drowning in silence-

Duo took a deep gasp shakily; for it's not in any other chance he could enter a spiteful little girl's mind and see things from her view. Despite Relena had him warned, the surreality of it caught him unguarded for a moment; besides, if it was 10 years ago, how old was she at the time? 5 years old, wasn't it? A little over 5, perhaps; but for a 5 years old girl, to already understand such dark things; wasn't she a little over her own limits? Like, being told that some ones want her and her loved ones dead was something, but to actually understand and forced to act upon it by herself was something entirely different; even some adults wouldn't want to face it, sometimes. Take for examples, these Dignitaries...

The ringing sound was long and somewhat suspended in the air, it was different from the toll of the Palace Bell outside that kept tolling to announce that a Kingdom-scale event was about to begin; the clear high-tuned ring was sounded as the eight emissaries entered the throne room, it reminded him of the sound of a dripping water, spreading its ripples through the crowd in the rooms and owning the space. Yes, Relena was right picturing it as 'drowning in silence'.

He looked around for a short moment, noticing that his body took shape in an insubstantial manner; Relena must have taken only his consciousness into her memory; since memory-scape must be not very different than the dream-scape. But at least he shouldn't have to worry about his Nightmare in here, right? -So, he was standing in front of one of the pillar statues guarding the stairs to the throne dais; Relena must have 'put' him there, he realized eventhough he was existing in mind-form he couldn't move from that spot; so that must mean that the little-Relena was somewhere behind him, likely watching secretly from inside the statue.

The ringing sound grew fainter when the eight emissaries nearing the stairs; Duo turned his attention back to them, as they divided the crowding Dignitaries into two sides. No one spoke; the smell of death wafted from their solemn figures... their garbs were made of robes wore over older worn-off robes overlaying like a mass of ages piled up into one shape; their outer robes were supposedly white, only they were already dirtied by time and looked off-coloredly dyed. A large prideful mark in red was taking the majority of the front, down almost to the end of the length around their ankles; while the robes underneath covered their feet and pooled on the floor. They had long veils secured under long pointy ceremonial hats; the front of the veils covered their faces to their chests, while stretched behind their backs making some kind of daunting tails dragged on the floor. They had their hands joined in the cover of their long sleeves at their fronts in generic gesture, and keeping their faces down in solemn pose; making a circle and moving as one, with a faint glowing flame of white floating in the middle.

The chime stopped as they stopped moving, and the crowd started a low murmur and looked up to the young Prince on the throne, looking cool and didn't look affected by the emissaries' presence.

"You offer truce?" the Prince cut to the chase; the murmur instantly died down. The emissaries bowed slowly.

("We offer you a way... to have a truce..., Sire...") a slurred ghostly whisper loud enough for everyone to hear claimed the silence; some people paled at the not-quite sound as they realized that whisper was partly telepathic.

"You're not here on behalf of your king?!" General Noventa asked with a haughty tone, probably trying to out-present the emissaries' possession but failed.

"Could you please introduce yourselves?" Treize said with a level polite tone; it was in a question form but was actually an order, and the cool calmness jerked the men to their composure again; and the opposing Dignitaries didn't let it slip their eyes too.

("We are nameless observers of Time... we shouldn't be engaged in worldly affairs... we hold not selves but loyalty-")

One of the opposing Dignitaries opened his mouth to make a slight comment but stopped when Treize's eyes countered his for a brief second. Duo looked behind and blinked at the sight of his cousin standing beside the throne; Treize was actually looking to be around his own age, perhaps only a little older then himself; 16 or 17 years old, but his disposition made him look older and out-wised most of the people present. A sheer of pride washed Duo's heart for a moment, but he realized when shifting his eyes to the young (or should he say little, instead?) King-to-be Prince sitting on the throne, who was probably just got his age number turned into 2-digits awhile ago, that this was a time when they were watching at Death's face just for being who they were.

Treize was reforming this country alone; he had never realized the weight of that fact until now, and what was staked for it.

("We do not have Peace in our hands... We have but one chance for you to make your Peace...")

"What makes you think we'll take your offer?" Treize frowned lightly.

("The Time... is right...")  
>("The King is right...")<br>("The honor is right...")  
>The whispers said tailing after another.<p>

"You're saying the late King wouldn't have taken your offer?" Treize summed up. A low surprised murmur started but died as they realized that the demons had valued the Prince as King.

"So what chance has your Time brought to us?" Treize wouldn't let the opposing old men chew on that fact and spit it out.

("A Purpose...")  
>("A Cause...")<br>("An existence-")  
>("-non existence...")<br>("The Value...")  
>("The Epitome...")<br>("The Unwavering...")  
>("The-One Life holds as law...")<br>("The Perpetual Causality... the one must not end...-")

"-...what?" Treize asked with a baffled frown and an almost grimace.

("We offer you the-One that could overthrow the balance and start over...")  
>("We offer you Death...-")<p>

"So, basically you bring a death-convict for us to use as weapon?" the Prince asked coolly. All humans snapped their surprised eyes at the boy who was smiling while brushing his lower lip with his thumb in casual manner; a playful light shone in his eyes but the despotic air around him forced them to swallow their objections before they even formed in thoughts.

The Prince giggled, "I take it that you were to carry out the execution?"

"For what kind of a person would the executioners turn their backs from their judges and claim it for loyalty's sake?" his boyish voice boomed in a pleasant manner in the spacious room and claimed the air back. The opposing Dignitaries fidgeted on their feet, knowing how much power that boy possessed with or without him realizing it himself; he was truly born to be King, that was the reason they opposed him.

("Form the Contract... Our offering...")

"You can't expect us to make a contract with a demon without knowing their identity!" one of the Royal Judges said.

("My Lord...")  
>("The Divine...")<p>

"Someone you worshiped?" Treize frowned deeper; the flow of the event had gone to a more dangerous ground, he'd like to end it here if he could. The demons were supposed to have unwavering loyalties; if you add something for them to worship in that value, then what the emissaries brought here must be something that the demon Royalties couldn't handle; something that potentially could overthrow their power and standings. Overthrow the balance and start over? Such was not a weapon, it's another 'nation' in its wake; it was just lying dormant in the demon Kingdom... a 'nation' that equally powerful to his Kingdom and the demon kingdom, and perhaps powerful enough to threat both as it 'stood' between. Like a forbidden double-pointed sword without a sheath... worshipers were even worse enemies than loyal army, anyway.

-or was he thinking too far?

"Hmmm... let me guess..." the Prince arched his brows, "The heir to the Warlord who made your first King king?" he ended with a winning smile.

A wave of shocked murmur washed the throne room. They've heard rumors about the duality in the demon kingdom's creation history; but such information never really came in handy to the humans in actual form.

"You can't, Milord! Associating with such a figure would bring more harm than good!" a scholar from Arn'crad quipped.

"What's your requirement?" Treize asked the emissaries; if his King was interested, then it's his duty to realize his wish.

("A Time...")  
>("A human...")<br>("A Contract...")  
>("Only one chance...")<p>

"So it doesn't need to be our King; any human we appointed would do?"

"And for a limited of time, correct?" Duo recognized the calculating stare in Treize's eyes as he said that, so he already thought of something to put this in a good use. That's so Treize...!

"Prince Miliarde, you don't think that the demons would let you take hold of such a power in this Kingdom, do you?" Rockefeller frowned.

"They will blackmail us with such a Contract!" Noventa added; "This is the opposite of taking in a political hostage, right? The demons will charge at us for having that troublesome figure-"

"Hey...!" the Prince addressed the emissaries casually and shut the man up, "What are you to your charge?"

Treize turned to the smiling boy; he was a bit worried about the boy's willful nature, that once he'd set his interest in something then he wouldn't let it go until he was satisfied. But his little King could handle his surrounding just fine; then, just let me handle the dangers for you, he thought to himself.

"You are loyal tooo...-" the Prince grinned, "I think, the Warlord?"

Treize stared at his little King, amazed at the boy's mind and that he could deduct things easily and formed them into shape to his liking. That's right; it was a latent 'nation', not yet formed its power... and the demons probably wouldn't want it to rise, which was why they sent that-heir to somewhere only their gods know where. His little King had called the emissaries as executioners, but most men present might have noticed it too, that they were most probably some kind of sages or priests and for that-heir to be entrusted to them could as well because the demons only meant to exile the heir, for the heir's death would bring something that the demons couldn't overpower. If he could obtain the control over such thing... then he might be able to keep his King as living king in his own Kingdom too.

Not yet weapon... not yet peril...; he could do this, it's something he could use against the opposing humans too, not just the demons.

("No, Sire... We are loyal to the Cause...")  
>("The Unchanging...")<br>("The Life...")  
>("The Death...")<p>

"Pfffth! Enough with the riddle; could you bring that person to the front? The last say is not from my tongue or yours, is it?" the Prince frowned but still smiling. The emissaries bowed lower and prostrated.

The faint glowing white flame blazed up and reveal a figure's silhouette in equally overlaying clothes in it.

("Sire...")  
>("We offer you...")<br>("The youngest son of the Legend...")  
>("The Unwavering...")<br>("The Mercy...")

How many names could you give to someone? And you call yourselves as not worshipers? -the thought flashed in Duo's mind; but instantly gone when the figure materialized as the flames faded to the sides and floated around his form. He was floating about half a meter from the floor, the ends of his overlaying clothes covered his feet completely; looking more like a set of ceremonial gowns instead of robes. He was covered by a fine lace veil with shiny embroideries illuminating its transparent fabric; a beautiful decorative headdress adorned his head underneath; faint reds at the sides of the face just under the line of the headdress marked the figure's ear-wings. He was standing in a solemn pose with hands joined at his front, covered by long sleeves spread out to the invisible ground behind his body like a pair of butterfly wings, lined with colorful embroidered bands and pointed to some intricately plaited tussles. Several similar bands hung down from the headdress pass his shoulders and draped casually in front of his bent arms. Longer and wider bands draped along his body and pooled on the invisible ground like some fancy spider legs.

With just one look at the veil, Duo thought of a bride instead of prisoner; some cults arranged marriages to deities in specific occasions, but it was only a polite way of making living sacrifices. So it seemed the demons had anticipated the rising of the heir's 'nation' and tried to turn its power to their benefit by offering the heir to some gods in faraway temple or such, making his worshipers available for them to use.

. . . . . . so Heero was betrayed in such fashion by his own people! -a twinge of anger clutched at Duo's heart; it was not that Heero was sent here to perform a duty for his Kingdom... he was sent away to be killed... and the sight of abuse-marks on Heero's back unbiddenly resurfaced in his mind. He tried shaking it off of his thoughts with difficulty.

"The youngest son?!" an old Dignitary commented skeptically; "With the way you entitled your precious Heir, I'd thought you were talking of a fair princess...!"

A round of laughter erupted in the vast room, then the floating flames wavered as if blown by a breeze, and the ends of the figure's veil and spread sleeves fluttered behind as if riding that wind; then silence reigned again with a vengeance, as fear crept into their hearts and started to claw at their cores and minds. With unwanted comprehension they realized that the figure standing in such a glorified nature was the creature that had frightened the whole of the demons' Kingdom just with its existence; the heir of the legendary warlord that put the demons' king on his throne might as well seen rightful to that very throne and that very kingdom, someone that could dethrone that king and destroy the kingdom. Someone that could overthrow a king and start over a kingdom by himself...

"A contract between a human and a demon is a life-binding bond, am I right?" Treize thought he should divert the people's minds before their fear blind their reasons and made them try to gang up on the guests; which would turn to be completely useless and his Kingdom would have its whole higher-ups annihilated in one occasion too. That said, he was confident enough that he could protect his little King all by himself if such a thing happened, at least until his little King could move to safety. But he didn't want that to happen, right?

"How would a human ends his contract when the necessity comes?"

("A human indomitable enough to conquer...")  
>("A Pact...")<br>("A life shared...")  
>("A covenant...")<br>("A purpose melded...")  
>("A will amalgamated...")<br>("A demon generous enough to be conquered...")

Treize arched his brows; he wasn't asking the requirements of the bonding, he was about to cut the emissaries' elaborations; but they beat him to it.

("Die...")  
>("Die...")<br>("Die...")  
>("Die...")<br>("Die...-")  
>Their last requirement repeatedly said as if echoing, and Treize clamped his mouth shut; he'd thought so too, but then, who would want to form a contract with a demon with the cost of their life? The people present averted their eyes when he cursorily glanced at them; but this matter should be dealt with, he thought; he wouldn't want to face 'another demon kingdom' as enemy in this already imbalanced war. If his King wished to gain that latent power to his side, then he might as well move to the front in the place of his King...-<p>

"Could I speak with your charge?" the Prince cut the heavy silent. "I assume you brought him here without his knowledge... revealing him in such a fashion...!" he smiled; the emissaries shrunk in their prostration, Treize blinked his focus back... he'd missed that little detail; with a discreet relieved sigh he glanced at the boy sitting casually on the eminent looking throne that was too big for his small figure; his little King always proved himself beyond his expectations. He was in his position now not because his father was the late King's right-hand man, he was assuming his father's position because to him 'the King' had always been this little King... since the day that his little King was born; and knowing that he would become a great King soon... So his duty was to clear a path for his little King to move forward and rise and top every other king around him.

Duo stilled when he saw the smile of admiration on his cousin's face; that was the first time he saw Treize with such an expression... to call it admiration was underrating it; hope, pride, loyalty, bliss, protectiveness, possessiveness, veneration, craving, satisfaction... in short, love; melded in a gentle smile with warmth shone in his eyes. If anyone should be called a worshiper in that room, then it was Treize; and in that instant Duo knew Treize had pledged his being for his little King alone... and that he was only a weapon served a purpose for Treize's King. A flare of jealousy bit his heart, he shook it off with the thought that he'd known it since a long time ago. He wasn't there to judge his older cousin, he was there to see Heero; so he bowed and wished them the best, knowing that their adversaries were also standing in that room and most probably were still alive in the present time outside that memory-scape. For every kindness that Treize had given him, he'd do anything for his King's sake if Treize wished him to; and since he came here initially to find a way for his heart to give up Heero, then he might as well make a new resolve to be useful for his cousin.

A low gasping murmur sounded collectively, washing the room in a wave; and the air changed into unbearable tight coldness. Duo straightened his invisible body up and blindly felt the atmosphere, he wondered if some people had died on their feet behind him.

-Chime! Chime! The death toll rings without a sound...

Slowly he tried turning his body around; even being in mind-form he realized the weight of the air had crushed his ability to 'move', and that he was struggling to do so; it was all in the mind, after all... despite this was only a memory and he wasn't supposed to be effected in such way-

-breathing is punishment;  
>all hearts condemned.<p>

Lowly creatures die in the solemnity where the Divine resides.

The Seeings blind,  
>the Brights wane,<br>the Prouds lowered,  
>the Knowledgeables dim.<br>Living is damnation,  
>breathing is punishment.<br>Those yearning shall thirst,  
>those fulfilled shall starve,<br>those desiring shall want for more and never be satisfied.

-and we are drowning.

Death is mercy and we shall take rest on his feet.  
>So let us drown together...<p>

Duo managed to get his mind's eye turned to the floating figure that was Heero; that was _supposedly_ Heero... yet he found a beautiful statue of a Deity, as the veil rode the invisible breeze and drifted in the air around his shoulders like a stole. His eyes were closed, face was still as deathly pale as Duo remembered, his lower lip was painted red, some red strokes on his forehead and cheeks and a single line from his lower lip to his chin proved him that Heero was prepared for a ceremonial purpose. The headdress was fitted with jewelries and dangling beads, at its sides a pair of horns curled up and behind in twisting spirals with fine carved details glittering in the dancing light of the floating flames. Ice-colored water-crystal beads adorned the end-lines under his eyes like frozen tears, tracing a path to the pointy curving strokes coloring his eyelids to the outer ends of his eyes. His long lashes shone blue luminescent lights on their ends, his long tufts were cupping his cheeks in radiant blue-green glows. Red threads crisscrossing between the feathers of his shining white wings making multiple bows like spider lily flowers blooming at the sides of his head and wings, and passed under his chin in two lines connecting the folded wings. And the flames were caressing his figure in sensual dance-

-since it's a sin to mar such a pure Death with your lives...

So let us drown together;  
>for I won't let you drag that angel down into your filths.<p>

Let us drown, let us drown together-  
>I won't let him kill any of you...<p>

That Death is **mine**!

A trickle of warm liquid trailed down his cheek, Duo jerked to awareness and hastily wiped it but stopped and realized he was in mind-form right now, and didn't think he was crying; so it must be little-Relena crying in her hiding spot, knowing that the beautiful demon would fall victim to her Palace too... and for a child her age to already have her knowledge, somehow Duo felt his heart breaking. She had fallen for the demon from the first time she laid eyes on his figure; a little girl with an old-soul and the talent to keep everything in her memory and having death looming over her head... what kind of concoction was that? She was more aware about her own imminent death than he was now-

-Behold, behold, all you ignorant seers;  
>open your eyes, and minds; and know that<br>I won't let you have him-  
>not a feather, not a shadow,<br>not a trace of his words and scent;  
>not his death!<p>

Go back to your holes and cower;  
>Just die!<br>Die!  
>Die! Die!<br>DIE-

Duo growled and shook his head to keep little-Relena's thoughts from his mind... a small part of him was somehow relieved knowing that it wasn't only him who had grown up into a person with such disparity, but still a fear clawed at his mind for knowing the sudden change in little-Relena's state-of-mind, that she was somewhat conceding to her fate just before she saw the demon and drastically changed into someone so vindictive in an instant- ...or was it just proof that she wasn't so eager to live before that and she suddenly gained her will to survive once she had an object of her compassion? Then, to her, the demon's worth was more than just her first love... wasn't it?

And Duo realized it then, why he was so afraid of that little girl when he met her back then... it was because she exuded such a strong killing-intent, wrapping it with light and disguised it with a smile. Because she knew he was a Maxwell? But why? He came and met her before Heero arrived...

A collective of frightened gasp pulled Duo to the event unrolled in that room again. He reflexively turned his mind-eye to Heero, expecting him to move; but the demon was still unmoving, it was the scene of the floating flames spreading themselves into loops and embracing his figure that had frightened the men. And as the loops burned some invisible spells in the air cocooning his figure, Duo knew that the demon was tightly sealed.

The written spells burned into lights and shot to the sides and turned into two shining rhombohedron crystal pillars guarding the floating demon 'in place'. Spinning slowly, while exuding unearthly fragrance to the air. Small white light-beads floating from inside them, dancing around the demon's figure like fireflies.

Then, slowly... the long eyelashes trembled visibly with their lights, and the red-stroked eyelids fluttered open in a slow motion. The room was holding its breath, unable to move; the little King sprang to his feet. The pair of blue gems under the drooping eyelids turned to the right, maybe taking in the surrounding as the demon realized that he was not in the place he was supposed to be; and they turned to the front again as the little King moved forward, the eyelids opened wider revealing the inhuman blue irises as he met the little King in the eyes levelly.

The room murmured its fright in reflex, then the air turned eerily silent again as if it was in a tomb. The little King stepped down the stairs of the throne dais, but Treize worriedly tried to stop him, only to be silenced with a small turn of his head. He stopped when his face was level with the demon's face meters away, while staring into the inhuman eyes that didn't show any feelings nor life.

"Hello." The little King said good-naturedly with a smile.

The demon stared for another couple of seconds and closed his eyes again;  
>("...continue with your task.") the melodious whisper said, without opening those painted lips.<p>

("My Lord!")  
>("My Lord...!")<br>And the prostrating emissaries at the front and sides turned to prostrate facing the demon, trembling in their haste.

("...this is not my concern.") the melodious whisper closed.

The little King blinked, noticing that he was just being ignored and that the ever-nagging old men of his Dignitaries couldn't even utter a single sound to even try making a slight comment. Somehow he found it fascinating, and giggled joyfully to himself.

The gaping men turned their eyes to The Prince and back to the floating unmoving demon. A little wave of pride washed their heart unbiddenly, some even visibly tried to quench the feelings before they actually felt it; Treize knew that they didn't want to hold his little King as their ruler. But he didn't mind it for now; the more they reject it, the more they'd feel the oppression of that power that naturally flowing out from his little King, and the more they'd feel the impact of not being able to out-power it. Since the late King ruled by inflicting fear throughout his land, some may have wanted to escape that feelings and naturally made them disloyal to the power.

"I am Miliarde Peacecraft. Your guardians said that you have a way for us to make a truce with the demon kingdom." The Prince said still with a smile.

The demon didn't react.

"I want that peace." The Prince continued, "I don't see any merits in continuing this prolonged war...and you have this 'such is not my concern' written all over your face, do you really not care about the lives lost?"

"My King..." Treize bowed and whispered from behind his little King for his straightforward words.

"But I do. Even if you'd say that death is inevitable, I'd like to choose that my people's deaths be for much important matters than war. Though I don't know what your people would want, but I have the feeling that you would say the same thing that such thing is not your concern too..." The Prince ignored Treize looking pale behind him. "Are you not talking to me because I'm human?"

The air turned even heavier in the wait for the answer to that question. Duo thought he was fidgeting in his mind-form, eventhough he knew it was in the past.

The wind came blowing from the open front walls of the throne room facing the city; and in the heavy moment, no one seemed to realize that the Palace Bell had stopped tolling, and when. The familiar smell of the city's air came filling the room, in par with the unearthly fragrance coming from the unearthly guests as they reek of death and Time and utopia; swaying the humans' minds from the dreamy presence.

("...you are not human.") came the melodious whisper.

The room instantly woke up with a surprised murmur.

The Prince blinked. Treize arched his brows in reflex and blinked. "...no?" they both asked in unison.

("Kings are not humans nor demons nor any other creatures. Kings are Kings, and they are their own beings without the binds of their outer forms...")

The Prince took a long pause in thinking, "-So... You're saying...". A light shade of darkness shadowing his brilliant eyes as he frowned in dissatisfaction; "...that you don't belief me, -no...! That I am not trustworthy with my words in behalf of my people because I am of a King's lineage...?!"

He took a deep breath and sighed, still frowning. "Very well...!"

The Prince climbed the stairs and stood on the dais, a despotic aura around him. "Listen, to all of you!" His clear voice jerked the heady men out of their confusion. "From now on, you all will address me as MASTER! This is my first formal order as I take my father's Throne; and after the coronation next week, know it in your heart that when you call me your master, you are submitting yourselves to your King!"

A wave of surprised babble rose and filled the room. Treize was sweating on his feet at the open challenge, eventhough his little King knew that most of the men present there were the ones who opposed him to be King. He hurriedly climbed the stairs and looked up to his King's face; "...My Ki-"

"Set the example, Treize." The level order spoken with a serious face carried more power than a slap on the face, and Treize found himself froze for a moment before his mind decided to land back into his brain.

"...-My... Master!" Treize said somewhat stunned. His little King didn't look satisfied nor disappointed with the name, he acted like it was the most natural thing for Treize to do and shifted his eyes to the baffled men staring at him with wide eyes.

"If any of you have any objection to call me your master, come forward!" The Prince said loudly.

There was a long moment of silence and uncertainty in the air; the opposing Dignitaries knew it was an open challenge for them to rise and expose themselves for their treachery intent, and the military men knew they were being conquered only with words... it was the warfield where they couldn't pull out their weapons and use their strength no matter how many men in their army or how strong their weapons were. An old scholar from Arn'crad decided he didn't have any objection in the matter, and bowed slowly, calling out in his trembling old voice. "...Master...!"

The slow deep voice jerked his younger scholars and they mimicked their elder and called out too. "Master...!"

"Master."

Their voices were not prideful nor faithful, they were spoken like echoes of a farewell greeting, as if shadows of a dying light; but soon the room woke up and echoed with the name with various volume and strength, and as the majority of people bowed their heads when they called out to the little Prince, the opposing Dignitaries stood with reddened disbelieving faces staring at the composed _little boy_ staring down at them in the eyes, coolly, on the throne dais. They gritted their teeth and fisted their trembling hands, knowing that that boy would wait no matter how long it took for them to give in, but the time was oppressing them since the room was waiting for their voices to be heard as well.

". . . Master...!" With trembling rumbling voice almost like a growl, Rockefeller gave his voice out; then the rest of his abettors gave in in similar way. Treize didn't miss the light of vengeance in their eyes as they hid it when they bowed their heads, but he knew his little King didn't miss it too.

"Thank-you." The Prince said lightly with a smile, as if what just transpired wasn't a big deal. "Now we can move forward with the matter at hand."

He stepped down the stairs again and stopped at his previous spot facing the demon in the face. "I am but a Master, so you could confide in my purpose." And he smiled earnestly when the demon's eyes opened up and stared at him. "So can we talk now?" he asked with a boyish tone.

The demon stared for a moment. ("...I know what you want.")  
>("I reject.") and he gave his final answer.<p>

The emissaries jerked and crawled on the floor closing their distance, clawing at the direction of the floating demon with their dry bony fingers looking like dead branches blackened by time.

("My Lord... we implore you...-")  
>("My Lord, have mercy...")<br>("My Lord... for your Life-")

A blast of cold wind exploded from the floating demon outward, the prostrating emissaries flattened their faces and bodies to the floor in fear.

("...Life. -is not. -your concern...!")

The demon's whisper was slow and full of vengeance that the men present there took a needed distance from the odd circle.

Treize didn't miss the sight of one of the emissaries' face as his veil swayed by that wind, that face was not of a demon nor human; it was the face of the dead. Two black holes of eyes, the caved in nose, exposed lines of pointy teeth, some facial bones visible from under the thin dry layer of what was long ago flesh... He knew his little King saw it too; but what kind of loyalty could steal some creatures from their deaths? For a brief moment his resolve wavered by fear; but as he tried to swallow it and stared at his little King's smaller back still standing bravely, he cursed himself and moved forward.

"I offer myself to make a contract with you!" Treize said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Another surprised murmur erupted in the vast room, his mind somewhat objecting to that reaction by now, knowing that all the men in that room could only murmur their selves away without doing something more useful. Duo caught that thought on Treize's face and he couldn't help but snickered at his helpless frustrated expression, knowing what ran in his older cousin's mind at the time, and felt sorry for him.

("I know what you want of me...") the demon whispered levelly.  
>("But it is not possible...")<p>

"Why so?" The Prince asked earnestly.

The demon took a pause, washing the air and time with his possession that made some men visibly shivered with paling faces.  
>("No human in this land could-")<p>

A commotion from the gate to the throne room stopped the demon's words.

"-You can't! Not now!"

"I beg you! This is not the right time-"

"Any time is right and any time is wrong! Who are you to judge Time when you are not a timeless creature?!" the growling bark was instantly taking over the air in the room, even before the owner of that voice came into sight.

Duo widened his mind's eye; knowing whose voice that was.

"Commandeeer! You caaaan't...!" A miserable guard whined while clinging to the tall man's arm and was being dragged inside, his comrade was trying vainly to free his head from the man's grip; a young version of Cail tailing them with an 'I thought you knew better' expression on his face directed to the guards. The crowd naturally made way for the odd parade as the tall man walked briskly towards the throne.

After circling the other odd circle, the tall man flung the guards from him casually and stopped a few paces away from the end of the stairs; and bowed down on one knee, he spoke with a booming voice. "ODIN OF RECONNAISSANCE TROOP, HAS RETURNED FROM THE BATTLEFIELD WITH FINISHED TASKS AS COMMANDED BY THE PASSING GENERAL; GREETS THE _LITTLE_ MASTER-TO-THE-THRONE...!"

Treize's face fell instantly, or his jaw to be exact...

The Prince laughed, "I'd expect you to stop addressing me 'little' by the time I had my coronation, Odin!" he said conversationally.

Odin cackled in unrefined manner. "GWAAHAHAHAHAHAHHH! I'll do that when you've grown pass my waist, Little Master!"

"ODIIINN!" Treize scolded exasperatedly, a few arteries popped on his temples.

"Wha-at? And I just stopped calling you 'cute' as well, Young Master...!" Odin rose from the floor with his 'innocent'-face. Duo snickered reflexively; Odin was calling his cousin Treize as 'cute Master' before that?! The sight of Treize's reddened face gritting his teeth and trembling by anger or shame almost made Duo laugh; but the sound of a man clrearing his throat pulled his mind to the time's situation.

Odin snickered at the General who did it and turned his attention back to the Prince. "I am here to pay my respect to the late King, Little Master! And you can rest assured, Young Master...!" he paused as he turned to Treize, "...that I have finished all the tasks your father had given me before I return here!"; and closed it with an unholy grin.

"O-ho...! At least you could make yourself presentable, or try to make it like you've tried the effort, Odin! The Palace is not a place for barbaric men...!" an escort of the General said.

"Ooooh, and Little Master... I carry the smell of your land from faraway place, even; do you find it to your liking?" Odin grinned widely, ignoring the slight comment.

"Hahahahahahahaa..." the Prince laughed pleasantly; "I'm sure my land smells like many things, Odin. I'm happy for you that my land also smells like you in various places...!"

Odin guffawed at that, knowing the little boy could always bounce his words back in pleasant manner.

"Odinnn! Shut up!" Treize hissed under his breath, not wanting the opposing Dignitaries saw their closeness with Odin -if even there's such a thing since to him Odin was like a notorious uncle-like guardian who liked to show his regards by being disrespectful to anyone, for those men feared the man's strength and might use it against the Palace itself.

"Greetings aside..." Odin turned around with a serious growl, cursorily met the eyes of the crowding men with a savage stare; "What is _this_...?" he asked as his eyes landed on the demon.

Duo gasped at the sudden realization, that it was the time for the two contractors to face each other face to face; his heart felt like it exploded at that moment, he tried to keep repeating to himself that it was something that had already happened in the past, that he couldn't do anything to prevent it, that he couldn't stop the making of the Contract to bind Heero to that man even if he tried, that it wasn't up to him nor it related to him in any way.

"H-... Hey, Odin, that's...-!" the paling escort of the said General stepped back when Odin stopped at the outer side of the prostrating circle.

Odin looked down briefly at the eight emissaries circling the floating demon in perfect intervals that was not actually forming a circle; they were forming an eight wind rose formation that bound the center that was the demon. Widely found pillar-formation for magical seals. He looked up at the demon's face that was still below his eyelevel despite his being floating; snorted, and stepped inside the wind rose, and stopped short when the spinning crystals at the sides of the demon burst into flames at his intrusion. He waited for a second to see what he was facing. The flames snaked in the air like living things and licked him in loops.

The paling young Cail was widening his eyes and gasped at the sight; Odin glanced at his aide and threw him his helmet he was holding in one arm. Cail jerked and tried catching it with his right hand since he got his own helmet clasped under his left arm, but the blaring sensation that struck his body as his gloved hand made contact with Odin's helmet made him reflexively flung both helmets; "-...cold!" he yelped, and they landed with clamoring sounds on the floor.

Young Cail gasped when all eyes turned at him, and he bowed in shame; "M-...my incompetence, Commander!". But the sight of Odin's helmet frozen on the floor was enough testimony for his case, he stepped aside as the crystallized area of the floor tried to catch his feet with cracking frosty noise; he knew this was beyond his limits.

Odin arched a brow at his aide and ignored the frightened Dignitaries taking steps back in alarm as he proceeded to get near the floating demon. The white flames were twisting and swirling around them in restless manner; he flicked his right hand when scale-like crystals formed on his arms and legs trying to immobilize him. He stopped in front of the demon and put his hand around the pale face from under the demon's chin, narrowing his eyes in hostility and growled when his thumb brushed the white soft cheek a few times.

Treize jerked on his spot, he intended to stop Odin from what he was doing, although he didn't really know what the man was trying to do at the time; but the calculating part of his mind made him stop and told him to see where it leads to. He glanced at his little King at his side who was watching the proceeding with observant eyes, and decided to wait and see too.

"What is _thisss_...?" Odin leered with unholy tone; and Duo wanted to jump him impulsively. "Ha! And they call me barbaric...!" Odin snorted and said in disgust; then flicked his left arm from the forming crystals and with both hands traced the red threads to the flower-like bows, looking clumsy with his battle-hardened fingers while his mouth kept muttering something about 'the end' for quite some time.

"Oh! Here...!" he suddenly quipped with a small smile, eyes lit up like a child's. Then he tried as carefully as he could to loosen the bows and crisscrossing threads from the demon's folded wings. Chuckling triumphantly when he got the demon's left side done and proceeded with the other side, ignoring the cracking noises of the forming crystals as they seized his body to his face and his clumsy fingers.

The demon shifted his eyes to his right again, as if not paying attention to Odin at all. Something outside his circling worshipers seemed to have bothered him, although his lifeless eyes didn't betray his thoughts.

"Done!" Odin barked with a teethy grin and pulled his body straight, examining his work with a satisfied light in his eyes. "Can you move now? There's no permanent damage, right?"

The demon shifted his stare to the serious frown on the man's face; he didn't seem to care but still flicked a feather of his upper left wing.

"This is blood-thread...?" Odin frowned unhappily as he tried loosening the red threads that somehow entangled his hands between his fingers. "Shouldn't you, being you, be more careful not to give your blood to anyone to be used like this...?!" he growled while flicking his hands futilely since the threads seemed to hold his hands tighter and under the thickening formed crystals, even. "And you have pretty wings, too...!"

The demon blinked, watching the man growled and busied himself with the threads around his hands and ignoring the cracking crystals that sometimes tossed to the floor from the momentum of his swinging hands.

". . . are you stupid?"

The calming level voice asked, and Odin paused his hands, staring at the demon's level face noticing his red-stroked lips slightly parted.

"...you are stupid. You don't even care how stupid you are."

Odin blinked, arching one of his brows seemingly in thinking.

". . . . . . that's a 'thank-you'...?" the man asked looking a little baffled. "And I thought your little-friend there wouldn't have minded it...!" Odin frowned, pulling his head up and looked down his chin at the joined hands of the demon. As if in cue, a long sleek black thing shot out from inside the flowing sleeves and caught Odin's chin. The man growled long and low, although his mouth pulled in a sneer.

"And what's this, a dragon hatchling?!" Odin's eyes lit up with a leer full of vengeance. The skinny lizard squeaked when it realized the human wasn't fazed at all being bitten by its small needle-like teeth, instinctively knowing -albeit too late, that the red threads were twisted around the human's hands; and if he caught it with those hands, it would perish as it was still too fragile as a hatchling.

"Sauria." The demon said.

"Hoooo... just a boastful lesard, hu? Put it back into your sleeves!" The man growled with offended stare, offering his chin to the demon. The hatchling blinked and squeaked for help.

"I would rather it be male." The demon said loud enough without sounding like he raised his voice. "You wouldn't want your females to make contact with me." He continued when the present men looked baffled at his announcement.

Another wave of surprised murmur filled the air, this time touched with anger as they realized what the demon had implied.

Odin raised his brows and glanced around, noticing the sudden change of sentiment in the air; he opened his mouth to make a slight comment but the demon's hands pulled his hands still entangled by the red threads and kept them around his own neck.

"I be here for peace..." the demon started, "Name your peace."

"Whaat?" Odin objected childishly since he felt like he was left out on something that the whole room knew. "So you're a peacekeeper, hu? As in a _hero_...?!" he asked sarcastically. "I should call you _Hee_ro, then?!" and ended it with a leer.

"Heero it is." The demon said still with level tone. Then the red threads around Odin's hand lit up like shining lava and started to sink into the skin of his wrists.

Odin snorted with a leer as he stared accusingly at his pained wrists, thinking that the red threads twisted around his fingers could sever them with the heat; but as soon as the loops around his wrists embedded into his skin, the red threads cut themselves and snapped around the demon's neck making similar red heat scars with a long hiss. Not knowing, or not yet realizing what was happening, Odin hissed and pulled his hands back, but the demon held them tightly.

"Your name." The demon demanded.

"I've said it loudly-"

"Give it to me." The demon cut; for once, with a serious light shone in his eyes as he stared Odin in the eyes.

"Odin...!" the man growled.

The demon let his hands go after that.

"Odin, Master of Peace..." the demon announced with an inhuman voice; "The eirenicon is signed."

"The Contract is sealed."

"If you no longer desire the Peace that your Master desire to keep..." the inhuman voice slowly turned into human-like voice. "...sever your hands..."

"...then my head will roll." The demon ended silently.

". . . . . . . . . whaaat . . . ?" Odin complained in bafflement.

The demon ignored him and pulled the little hatchling that was still dangling from Odin's chin, and then landed soundlessly on the floor. Then slowly walked passed the gaping man and the surprised-looking emissaries who pulled their heads up and trembled on the floor; and stopped in front of the stairs to the throne dais. Looking up at the stunned Treize and the amazed-looking little King in the middle of the stairs.

"Master of my master..." he said, "What kind of Peace do you wish for?"

The little King blinked several times, his brain had yet to digest the fast procession; he was sure he would have to fight the debate a little bit more before the demon could see his purpose. ". . . the world-" he almost mouthed in his dazed state.

Then the demon took a deep slow bow.

"Let it be peace in your world under my name..." he said solemnly. When he straightened his body up, he opened his wings fully, and a blast of white light exploded from him and traveled in the air, penetrated the shocked gasping men and kept going to the outside of the Palace.

The present men gaped as they held their breaths, not knowing what really happened besides feeling a cool gust of wind penetrated their bodies like a painless blade.

"M... Milords! The clouds...!" a frightened guard from the gate fell on his butts, pointing up with his spear.

The shocked men snapped their heads to the sky with a deeper trembling gasp collectively. The overlaying thick grey clouds above the Palace were blown away by the white light that was now traveling on the clouds spreading away towards the vast world; leaving a clear round sky visible above the Palace. A white parhelion was circling the sun, as it was actually high noon at the time; shimmering with light particles for a long moment before died down without a sound.

Trembling while gasping for their breaths, the witnessing men turned their attention back to the demon under the end of the stairs; now they just realized his glorious three pairs of wings, and the luminescent tufts at the sides of his face weren't parts of the headdress or his accessories.

The little King took a step down still looking dazed, his eyes didn't leave the demon's form; and slowly descended towards the demon who kneeled down as he got near and prostrated himself with head rested on the first stair.

"My-..." Treize called out when his little King squatted down in front of the demon's head. "Miliarde...!" and reflexively warned him when he pushed his hand out and brushed the white feathers with the ends of his small fingers.

"Prince Miliarde...!"

"You shouldn't-...!" some baffled men tried to stop him, although it was too late for that.

The demon pulled his upper body up when he felt the careful fingers on his wings; those small fingers followed his wings up as he countered the dazed clear eyes of the innocent looking boy. That boy gasped in wonderment when his fingers passed through the feathers as if they were mist or clouds.

". . . does it hurt?" he asked breathily when his fingers tentatively played with the alien material of those white wings.

"Not the kind of pain you would know." The demon answered levelly. "And you need not worry about the demons; I am not under any demons except my own Life..."

The little King looked mildly surprised and carefully pulled his hand back, a sad light in his frowning eyes. "...please guard my Peace." He whispered before standing up and returned to Treize's side, pulling him down to whisper something in his ears.

"-whaaaat?!" Odin's disbelieving voice suddenly cut the strange air. "Me?! PEACE...?!"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDSSSS...?!" he exclaimed seemingly to himself.

The attention turned to him again, still standing in his last pose in the middle of the wind rose of the prostrating emissaries now directing their heads on the floor towards the demon in front of the stairs.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, DEMOOONN?!" he turned his body facing the demon too.

The demon's shoulders sagged, like he was sighing although he didn't. ". . . I acknowledge your stupidity, Master." He said silently.

"WHAT MASTER...?!" Odin stomped angrily out of the wind rose; the formed crystals on him had dissipated slowly into the air. "EITHER YOU CALL ME BY MY NAME, OR YOU DON'T CALL ME AT ALL...!" he said hitting his own chest.

"-WAIT, NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! -WHAT PEACE ARE YOU ASSOCIATING ME WITH, EXACTLY...?!" he barked with accusing tone.

Treize frowned and tried not to grimace at his loud voice. "...Odin, right now-"

Odin lifted the demon by the waist with a swift yank. "My Peace, Odin." And the little King's words stopped his outburst; Odin was frowning accusingly into the demon's eyes, while the small hatchling hissed at him repeatedly from the demon's shoulder.

The demon blinked at him, his level face didn't change.

Odin blinked at the demon, his anger dissipated faster then he ever experienced before; ...later in his life, he would find that he couldn't get angry at the demon for more that a breath span; although he wouldn't admit it on the outside.

With an exploding snort he threw the demon's body onto his left arm from under his thighs -actually like someone would carry a child, against his broad chest that was still dirtied by his battlefield or his journey back. He used his right hand to dig into the overlaying gowns making loud rustling noises.

"Odin! What are you _doing_...?!" Treize asked incredulously with widened eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Hoo!" Odin let out when he found something underneath the clothes and pulled the unnecessary excessive layers of fabric up revealing a pair of naked feet, stylized with red strokes and dark-blue painted pointy nails; just like his hands.

"...whose _bride_ are you?" Odin asked slowly with narrowed eyes.

The demon glanced at the man's face from the ends of his eyes. "Yours."

"Bride...?!" Treize asked with baffled face.

Odin growled looking up at the ceiling; "So they still practice offering living-sacrifices, hu?!"

"And which deity did I steal you from?" he stared into the demon's eyes again.

"Mine." The one-worded answer didn't really carry that weight, but Odin's shoulders still sagged with a deep sigh.

"Little Master, Little Master... what kind of trouble are you putting me in?" he muttered his complaint to the floor.

The little King blinked; "...peace!" he pointed out reflexively.

Odin pulled his head up, narrowing his eyes to the boy with innocent face up the stairs. "Reaaally...?" he asked skeptically.

The little King nodded his head twice making boyish expression.

"As a reward, I got myself a bride!" Odin muttered to himself; "...okay!" he arched his shoulders. "Well then, I supposed you still have important matters to discuss with your important Dignitaries. I will have to excuse myself to get along with _my_ bride...!" he then bowed with polite mockery and backpedaled several steps behind before heading to the gate.

"...don't fight!" the little King said reflexively.

"Ha! Like he could fight me with the Contract done...!" Odin snorted and ignored the said Dignitaries glaring poisons at him. The young Cail pulled Odin's helmet from the floor and picked his as he hastily followed his Commander out of the throne room; leaving the men murmuring complaints and other things to each other.

("...you may rest...")  
>An echoing whisper sounded in the air when they had gone from sight.<p>

A deep trembling inhaling sound followed with a deep dying sigh filled the room after that.  
>("Thank-you...")<br>("...My Lord...")  
>("The Mercy...-")<p>

And the people present there just remembered about the still prostrating emissaries on the floor; and were taken aback when those aged figures dissolved into white sands blown away by invisible wind towards the open walls outside, leaving nothing but a lingering sigh.

The room roared in panic-

-and Duo blinked repeatedly at Relena's wide eyes staring him openly as if she was waiting for Duo to say something for quite a moment.

Duo jolted with a gasp and took a wobbly step behind; feeling the thick damp carpet of green grass under his shoes and soft breeze carrying the smells of various flowers and greenery brushing his face and hair.

"-wha...!" he gasped and tried to breathe, hard; finding his knees buckled and his butts kissing the damp grass.

"You made it back wholly...?" Relena asked slowly.

Duo was moving his mouth but couldn't form words while gasping for air. Relena smiled at him, a sad shadow darkening her eyes. "You saw what you wanted to see...?" she asked.

Duo tried blinking his mind back; the sudden change of the memory-scape to the sensation of the the present world ruptured his walls. He felt a little shaken when his _hands_ were clawing from under his skin.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Relena smiled wider, ". . . My-death!" she closed with a dark tone.

Duo clamped his mouth shut, breathing hard from his nose.

She smiled, although her eyes didn't. "We're even now..."

"...I won't bother you again." Duo cut trying so hard to sound level.

Relena nodded once still with that smile that darkened her eyes. Duo pushed himself up to his feet and bowed his head once, then pulled the worried looking Cail from where he stood paces away from them towards the exit of the tower.

"Thank-you for your hospitality." Duo said passed his shoulder before they stepped outside.

And the tall double doors closed on them with a loud sound.

Duo was almost collapsed in Cail's arms after that. "How long was I..."

"What?" the Lieutenant asked with surprise, but looked composed again in no time. "The Princess closed her eyes for a few breaths span and opened them again and watched your face..."

Duo frowned in dislike at him; and Cail cleared his throat. "...you looked like you were out of it for some tens seconds...!"

"Did you get your answer...?" Cail asked fast when Duo pushed himself from his arms.

Duo paused and stared at the wooden platform of the causeway. "...-...I don't really know..." he admitted.

All he knew was that... The present Relena looked more solemn now; and that Heero wasn't forced to take the Contract; and that Odin was the one chosen by Heero, not the other way around... and the words the Prince whispered to Treize were still echoing in his head. Relena must have the mean to see and hear the details of her memory... most probably the power of her Familiar...

-...but what did he mean?

_. . . Treize... He might not be a demon, after all-_

* * *

><p><em>Why did you let him leave...?<em>

Relena glanced behind at her Familiar and stared back at the closed gate of her tower.

"Ladyhood... I was wondering what had bothered _him_ at that time..." Relena mumbled; "...something from outside the-circle..."

_Don't acknowledge it...!_

Relena frowned, looking like she was fighting back tears. Took a deep shaky breath and exhaled it slowly. ". . . Heero was looking at Duo, even from something intangible in Time-"

"_You don't have to acknowledge it, My Master..._" Ladyhood put her arms around Relena's smaller figure from behind, her black veil flowing in the invisible breeze marking her possessiveness over her owner.

Relena closed her eyes. "...I knew it from the moment I saw him... -even before Heero arrived...!"

"_...My Master...!_" Ladyhood rubbed her cheek on the honey-colored head.

"I will have to rob the-Demon from _that boy_...!" Relena opened her eyes and said through gritted teeth; a flare of vengeance lit her eyes, brilliant fire in the shadow of her tall familiar.

* * *

><p>"...p- please forgive me..." the maid girl bowed, hiding her face behind the folded white cloths in her hands. "I was told to help you with the bedding..., Commander..."<p>

Odin stared down the trembling maid in front of his door. He harrumphed and cleared a way for her, keeping his unhappy frown creasing his brows.

The maid girl walked inside to the room awkwardly, and stood at the inner side in front of the closed double doors. Odin walked briskly pass her, pointing at the already neatly folded bedding on his table. "Dump those whites on the bed and take those pinks. I'll take down the draperies for you."

"Yes...!" the maid girl bowed and hurriedly put down the cloths in her hands onto the bed. And she lingered there, keeping her head hung in fear.

Odin tsk-ed and pulled the drapes, a blotchy-white crow landed on the ledge under his window, staring at him while cocking its head to the sides. Odin snickered at the odd-colored bird; "What's wrong with odd-colored cloths- Ghck!"

CRASH!

-and the crow flew away dodging the shards of the broken window glass.

Odin fell forward and grabbed the windowframe with his right arm, turning his head behind at the smiling maid girl with bloody small knife in her hands.

"You lower your guard down on yourself when you think the demon is out of danger...!" she commented coolly. "It's nothing personal, though, Commander. Just like what you said to the people you've killed knowing their ancestors killed your ancestors..."

"This is just duty." The maid girl took off her maid headdress and revealed her golden locks. Then pulled a crow's feather from under her sleeve and let it fall to the floor.

* * *

><p>"Treize..." he called silently, staring down into the man's soulful eyes; "...this is treason." -and his wings fanned open.<p>

A sharp hiss, and Treize's body pulled behind hitting the back mattress of the fluffy sofa. His-cat materialized on his shoulder, embracing his neck with _his_ two tails in loose loops; hissing and snarling at the demon who took a step back without changing his expression. As if expecting that to happen.

"Rianka-..." Treize widened his eyes in shock; "...this is not what you think!"

"This human is minnnne!" the-cat snarled with inhuman voice, clawing at the air with _his_ long knife-like nails.

The demon stared at the hissing black cat, and turned to Treize's flushed face. "You have someone you could ask help from-"; and his words cut as he fell to his knees with widened eyes, right hand reflexively holding his stomach.

Treize recognized the dread in Heero's eyes; he instantly sprang to his feet and caught the demon's limp body before he fell behind. "Did you get the crow...?!" he barked at his-cat, already knowing the negative answer from their shared links; and cursed under his breath.

"Ohd-" the demon gasped, "...in-" and mouthed.

"I know!" Treize answered and carried the demon in his arms; "Sixth! We're going!" and barked at the door of his study.

His prepared warriors burst into the room, closing the double doors swiftly and turned facing them again in formation as The General marched towards them with the demon in hands and his Familiar around his neck. Treize kicked the doors with his foot and yelled.

"ODIIN!" a touch of anger weighing his voice.

The other side of those doors was not the corridor to his study; a fallen chair, a stack of neatly folded pink silk cloths on the table, a hanging ripped drape from a broken window, the worn carpet marred with blood splatters, the Commander's large muscular body lied faced down unmoving on the naked bed, the Auri-girl sitting beside him on the bed turning her grinning face at the incoming parade-

Treize's party stopped as the doors closed behind them with a loud bang.

"You're late...!" Myrica said with merry tone.

x - - - - - - - - x  
>x - - - - - - - - x<br>**Thanx for reading**

_saru's note:_  
><em>sorry for the late update, saru's just taken a loooooooong lazy time doing nothing... X(<em>


	22. Chapter 22

**Another -17 august '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: saru try typing this while adjusting to the new prescribed glasses, so you should expect for some typing errors... '; _

**chapter 22**

...then I shall call you Odin,  
>since you will be alone from now on...<br>But for being alone throughout ages,  
>you are always <em>one<em>.

He_ likes to sit under the big tree at the outerline of the compound.  
><em>His_ loose hood covers most of _His_ face, perfectly hiding the white wings underneath.  
>Eyes stare at the vast blue sky reflecting its color on them.<br>I like to sit in front of _Him_ and watch those mesmerizing eyes ignoring me;  
>drowning myself in time as <em>He_ drowns _His_ existence in the value of the world._

_-A daring color pulls my eyes to stare down at _His_ front,  
>it was a bold red spreading on <em>His_ white clothes._

_I scream at the top of my lungs...-_

"Myrica..., I belief?" Treize frowned.

The girl chuckled; "Oh, yeahh... Duo screamed my name, hu?"

"Is he okay, by the way?" she added conversationally.

The General narrowed his eyes.

She sniffed at the scrutiny; "...just wondering." and arched her shoulders.

"...what are you doing?" Treize asked slowly.

Myrica blinked, looked down at the unmoving Odin in front of her crossed legs, a stack of folded white cloths next to her; and chuckled louder, merrier. "Ahahahaa... No! He did this to himself. But, if you asked, I should be skinning his bloody hand right now, but I think he could depend on Lord Demon there for that...?"

At some frowning baffled faces, she grinned. "Is that not okay with Lord Demon? If so, then I'd deal with the hand now- ...oh, you should burn the bed and carpet afterward, for the blood spatters; so much with the ruckus about the bedding now, hu? Hahahahahahahh!"

"...you are...-" Treize started slowly, narrowing his eyes deliberately showing his suspicion.

"Oh, yeah. I got here late too... so don't feel bad about yourselves!" She tsk-ed and whacked Odin's head. "If anything, the oldman should feel bad about himself! -oh, I could do _that_ only when he's dead! Hahahahaah... do you want to do it too?" Myrica beckoned with her waving hand.

Treize's party blinked. "He's dead?" he asked with a calmer tone, although his brows were still frowning.

"Yeah. -oh, no; not _that_ dead; he's just suspending his life, is all...!" Myrica grinned. "...is... that not okay with Lord Demon?" she frowned at the awful looking demon in Treize's arms, trembling slightly as if he was fighting off cold or holding his breath.

Treize glanced to the demon and stared back at Myrica, but looked down on the demon again in surprise; finding his neck bled out some red, seeping to the surrounding skin under his shirt.

"No, don't touch that-!" Myrica yelled; "It's the bond; that's the oldman's wound -oh, damn, it's gushing out -I'll isolate the poison soon, sorry -just put him down somewhere...!" she waved cuing down to the baffled Treize. "Just put him down! It's lethal poison that could kill an average person in seconds...!" she pressed when Treize didn't budge.

One of the Sixth pulled the chair up from the floor and put it in front of Treize who put the demon on it carefully; while the others were still on guard with hands on the hilts of their swords.

"Do you want me to isolate his hand, too? He ripped his knife-wound with it before I could get near him; -which was a wise decision, though... if the poison made it into his veins he'd die in breaths' span; even if it was Odin!" Myrica glanced at Heero's torpid face, noticing what he didn't let showed outside, and smiled. "You're too kind, Lord Demon...!"

Her relaxed face turned serious and her tail snaked from behind her, the scaly-end swelled up making a slender ovoid head and opened into two parts completed with two sets of teeth-lines. "Sorry, this's going to be hell...-", and with that warning she stabbed it into the wound in Odin's stomach, making the demon jerked visibly-

_-"You're bleeding!" I scream in horror; __instantly__ covering what I think the source of the gushing red with my hands.  
>The bold color doesn't <em>_wet__ my palms; I barely feel it as liquid, in fact... it's just almost misty feeling like when I touched _His_ wings-  
><em>His_ blue eyes shift to mine; I know _He_ doesn't care to care about _Himself_-_

"_HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP-!" I spring to my feet and run towards the compound; "-_HE_'s bleeding! -Do something...-!" I shout as I see heads sticking out from the various dwellings; pointing frantically at _Him_. They seem surprised at first, but as they see _Him_ they just smile and laugh; and leave without offering an explanation or a care._

_I stare at them disappearing with my gaping mouth of disbelief; confused and feel betrayed- ...gasping for air while trying to say something but my mind can't form any word to be spoken..._

"_Just leave him be...!" _His_ grandfather said through his nicely carved white-pipe._

_I stare at the hom__e__y-looking old man in confusion__;__ tears are starting to weigh my eyelids._

"_He's not yours to be concerned of." the old man closes; his rocking chair creaks lazily in the air.  
>-why...? My mouth can't word it out loud.<em>

_A flowing white veil sways in the glistening air; I widen my eyes at His arrival and immediately run towards Him -His blinding smile li__ghts__ up to me... I grab His loose robes...-_

"_Oh, it's rare that you managed to hurt yourself!" _His_ mother says with an amused smile.  
>He laughs pleasantly and waves at her-<em>

"_I'm sorry I made you worried-" His pleasant smile is directed at me;  
>-I shake my head in negation; I <em>_**am**__ still worried.  
><em>"_-NO ONE DO ANYTHING-!" I yell, the tears start to slide down my cheeks; shaken by how much everyone doesn't care about _Him_._

_He laughs and strokes my head, His hand is always gentle and filled with kindness; it doesn't make sense to me why He wouldn't be kind to _Him_ too...  
><em>"He_ suffers for you; aren't you going to care for _Him_...?!" I clutch at the flowing white robes, pulling at them pleadingly.  
><em>"_Oh, Odin..." He smiles and bends His body to me; "I know _He_ suffers my pains; but that is only natural...!"-_

_...my tears drip down from my chin. The gravity doesn't care about their meaning-_

"...ha!" Myrica gasped and held her breath, her grin froze on her face; her tail pulled out slowly from Odin's open wound, a clear glass ball between the tail's teeth. "-ohohohohohoo...!" she chuckled appreciatively as she inspected the glass ball carefully in front of her face.

There was a luminescent clear purplish-blue globe inside the glass ball, its surface was lumpy with cracks and jagged points, currents traveled between the cracks as if chasing each other; some tentacles were wiggling at some elongated points; while it was rotating slowly in the glass ball. It's almost mesmerizing to watch if not for its deadliness.

"...niiiice-!" she breathed; "This poison this amount could easily kill 10 grown men in breaths span...!"

She stared down at Odin's open wound and licked her lips; "Well, thanks to his reflex he managed to slightly turn his body to his side, so that the knife didn't penetrate his stomach or other organ and just stabbed his waist muscles at his back. -His hand was large so when he ripped it to force some of his poisoned blood out, he made the wound wider, though!" Myrica turned to Treize's party, watching their faces made surprised expression of different levels when her tail's 'mouth' swallowed the glass ball of poison with a gulping sound.

"Hehehehehh! Don't worry, he's pretty resilient despite his old age...!" she grinned at Treize's suspicious frown, "By the way, Lord Demon..." and decided to change the topic; "Considering changing Contract?" she asked pointing at her face.

"What?!" Treize asked incredulously.

"The oldman staked his hands and Lord Demon staked his neck; do you think that's fair?" Myrica frowned back.

"-That's...!" Treize almost barked.

"That's Lord Demon's term; I know!" Myrica frowned deeper; "But if the Contractors are equally balanced in standings; the Contract would be staked with equal lives...!"

"You may call it jealous,-" she cut when Treize opened his mouth to react, "-But I don't like the fact that Lord Demon spoils the oldman rotten! It's demeaning the oldman's disposition!"

Treize snickered skeptically; "Heero's spoiling Odin?!"

"...aren't you?" Myrica asked innocently to the demon, her wide eyes conveyed that she believed her words as a fact.

Treize glanced at Heero, who was still looking like he needed to breathe soon despite he never did; and staring at the thinned lips that were slightly trembling, Treize knew Heero was being defiance... -so she might be true saying that Heero was spoiling Odin, but that was not everyone's business who was outside their Contract.

"That's not your business." Treize frowned his warning at the Auri-girl; if Odin could exclude him whenever Heero involved, despite he was being his superior -or because of it, then others should be excluded too -except for his King, of course; since he's Odin's King too.

"You're saying that I am not related to this _grandbrat_?" she gave a sleek smile; "-...but I am! It's my business that the oldman is only weeks older than the last time I saw him 10 years ago!"

At surprised faces she continued, knowing that the facts started to dawn in their eyes; "Lord Demon, you froze his time since the making of the Contract; which is natural when two Contractors of different lifespans formed a Contract... But until when? Until you abandon him? Until you're bored with this world and decide to let your head roll after everyone he knows died-?"

A twitch on Odin's arm stopped Myrica's words; she blinked and waited Odin to come to as Treize's party's eyes turned to his lying form.

"-whhhhh...at -natural...?" a low slurred mumble muffled by the pillow started, "...mmmy-hummmuheyhmmmh- huh?"

Myrica blinked and stared with drooped eyes at the demon; "He usually talks in his sleep?"

GRAB!  
>Odin's left hand reflexively took hold of the swaying tail.<p>

Treize's party gasped at the sudden move.

Odin instinctively pulled his right arm towards himself and used it to prop his upper body weight so that his chest could accommodate his lungs better when he wheezed in deeply.

-the tail's head pecked at his shoulder repeatedly...

Odin's narrowed eyes shifted to it; and he growled a warning, long and low.

Myrica wasn't impressed, looking down at him with her arms folded on her chest; then smacked Odin's head again. "How dare you lower your guard while you know other's lives are on the line too...!" she muttered with an unhappy frown.

It took two seconds before Odin sprang on his hands up and crouched, keeping his face at Myrica's face level while snarling with wild grimace. She snarled back with her wild expression.

The similarity jerked Treize as a realization formed in his mind.

"-Rrrrh...and what'rrr you angry at me forrh?" Myrica rumbled with narrowed eyes.

"How darrre you took my demon's wingsss_, Brat_!" Odin spat it out at the end.

"Hmph!" she snorted; "Thank me that you got no casualties on _yourrr_ side!"

"Ha!" Odin spat, "That's coming from someone who turned the attackers into red liquid without catching any hostage to be interrogated...!"

-SLAP!  
>Myrica smacked her face with both hands and kept them there in dramatic pose; "THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GO LIKE THAAT!" she looked like she was genuinely surprised by the outcome too. "-I mean, I probably should have picked a tamer song than The Rain Wielder; but it's a farewell song not a killer song...! It usually used the raindrops to suspend the offenders into stillnessss!" she reasoned, slapping her hands onto the laps of her crossed legs.<p>

Odin narrowed his eyes until they turned into dangerously shining slits and stared into her eyes.

"OKAY! -so the outcome is usually based on the owner's type and strength and intentions; but it didn't occur to me at the time that Lord Demon's power type was to kill dead people into their rightful place!" Myrica eventually broke; "-well, that's not right! You can't kill people that are already killed; -I mean, he put lives in order! Yeahh, that's it! -No!"

She sniffed and said conspiratorially; "...he put _deaths_ in order...!". Then her fire died down as she blinked repeatedly and glanced with uncertainty at the demon.

"...-...what kind of power is that?" she frowned worriedly staring into the demon's eyes who ignored her.

Odin glanced at his demon and che-ed, cursed something nasty under his breath and pushed his body off the bed. In several strides he got himself in front of the demon, carefully holding his face by the chin to inspect his folded wings; seemingly satisfied enough when he found the white wings weren't glued tightly to his cheeks like what happened before all that. He sighed, and pulled the demon's body up into a bear hug.

"...you know each other?" Treize frowned unhappily. The-cat sniffed at Odin's direction, smelling the blood on him, and did nothing else; keeping _his_ mind's eye at everything that moved in that room but didn't spread it sharp enough to disrupt the demon's Contract-space which was Odin's chamber.

Odin che-ed in unrefined manner, jerking his head behind at the still sitting Myrica left on his naked bed, who was currently propping her right elbow on the stacked white cloths and twitched her brows up a couple times playfully when all eyes turned to her. "-...that's my grandbrat!"

"-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHH!" Myrica instantly rolled on her back laughing, holding her stomach with a hand and hitting the mattress with the other.

"-your what?!" Treize glanced back and forth between the two.

Myrica snickered while sitting up again; "He's my grandbrat too...!" she winked with a wide grin.

"-Hahahahaha." Odin mimicked the laugh with a level mocking tone and closed it with a growl, showing his fangs.

Myrica chuckled, and sprang to her feet; loosening her gauzy turban with one pull then slapped a handkerchief onto Odin's wound; ignoring the man's growl of complaint, and used that long cloth as bandage. "...'cuse me, Lord Demon!" she said when her hand sneaked between Odin and Heero's bodies.

"Yes, I _accuse_ you for stealing my demon's- Ough!"

Myrica kicked Odin's bandaged wound with her knee. "Don't chew on it!"

"You BRAT!" Odin snarled again, put Heero's feet on the chair so that the demon's head was on his shoulder.

"That's a healing-charm!" she waved while sitting on the bedrail.

"Odin...?!" Treize started to get irritated, now that he knew Odin wasn't on the brink of death taking the demon along with him.

"...grandbrat! -like grandchild...!" Odin almost barked at Treize, who froze.

"Yeah; grandbrat...-like granddad!" Myrica snickered.

There was a 10 seconds of silence before Treize exploded; "-WHAAAT?!"

"Oh, come-on! You never know he's an Aurilatha the whole time...?" Myrica waved the General's heat down; and blinked. "Hey! For REAL?!" she widened her eyes.

Odin was only staring down the Sixth's eyes that were trained on him with surprise, something formed in their minds and he dared them to word it out.

"You never told them, oldman?" Myrica threw a sandal from below the bed with her foot that hit Odin's left leg.

"They never _asked_...!" Odin said levelly.

Treize blinked his surprise off repeatedly. The difference between the people of Aurilatha and the others was that others would call them _Aurilathan(s)_, while they would call themselves as the name itself, only _Aurilatha_... as if being one and in whole as one name. And his mind pointed to him that Odin never did call them Aurilathans; he used to say 'the Auri' to reffer to those people ...-his people? That couldn't be right...! His late father had ordered Odin to demolish the Aurilathan's land-!

"Odin-! You...!" Treize frowned in alarm.

"-have different traits...?!" Odin growled almost sounded offended; "I'm from different tribe!"

Treize stared at Myrica, who grinned pointing at Odin and at herself with different hands. "Different tribes! -pure blood!"

At baffled stares she chuckled; "We're not blood-related; for which I feel grateful...!"

Odin snorted when Treize stared at him again; "Hmph! Grandfather-by-duty! Of which you wouldn't understand...!"

"...Aurilathans belief they carry certain duty in life; and for which living-system made them frightened by other races for their audacity...!" Treize commented half-reflexively.

"Audacity sounds cool! Haha! Frankly it's just for the oddness or aberration..." Myrica smiled, "The oldman's great-grandfather was the only survivor of his tribe when my ancestors annihilated them; and I'm the only survivor of mine when the oldman, and his _collaborators_, annihilated my tribe. So, in lines; he's the _fourth-lined father_ to me, the _seventh-lined child_. He's grandfather; I'm grandchild...!"

"-...Whaaaat-?!" the logics in that didn't enter Treize's brain. _Who annihilated whom and that makes them family?_-

Myrica laughed pleasantly at the dumbfounded faces at her explanation. "...it's in lines! As in, the Blessing-lines...?"

"Oh!" she clapped once, "Did you know that my sister gave her blessing to Duo while he was still conceived by his mother? ...-thaaat was when his father and mother came down to hunt every single one of my tribe...! And succeeded at that, too; my sister bartered her Blessing for my life, she knew the would-be-last-Maxwell would desperately need it; oh, but that makes him my second-lined of Blessing... like my child?" she arched her brows at the end.

"...-...whaaaaaat...?!" Treize's voice started to take a much higher pitch. The Sixth blinked, and they had never done anything significantly besides being some baffled spectators too, they thought.

Myrica chuckled at him.

"-what's... -what with the...!" Treize gaped at Odin, pointing his finger at Myrica.

Odin huffed, looking like he actually minded it to have to explain their logics; just because it's a bother to explain in length.

"...high...-priest..." a whisper said in slurred tone.

"Aaaahh... Lord demon could tell, hu? That's not very fun...!" she commented with a wide smile; "Yes, it's the Blessing-lines of Aurilatha's High Priest, -my sister was Priestess, though; who in generations is assigned to choose the King."

"Your ancestors knew him by the crowned name of Beast King, by the way. That's what the Generals before you feared of so much that they decided they should demolish our land before a Beast King is chosen, _General Kushrenada_...!" Myrica added silkily, staring with unholy light into Treize's eyes and sugared it with a sweet smile.

Treize blinked; it somehow clicked into shape, but not really with whole pieces together.

"So, oldman; I want a King in exchange for saving your arse... give me one!" Myrica demanded rather childishly while throwing the sandal's pair at Odin's leg again.

Odin knew where it would lead, that's why he'd acted hostile; "Go get your own!" he rumbled, as if it was a complete sentence saying that he'd already had one and wouldn't betray his King, or whoever he deemed equal to be his King. Treize knew what implied by the man's words, and instinctively knew that the girl would intentionally cross his lines just for the fun of it, apparently it's in their Aurilathan blood; so he took a couple of steps back, cuing his Sixth to do the same too.

"Yes!" Myrica pointed to Odin's back; "-Exactly that one, give me my King...!"

-GRRROOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!  
>CRASH! -a thunderous growl, and the chair flew in invisible speed and hit the bed, exploding splinters everywhere, so hard that they managed to rip through the already half-ripped curtain still hanging poorly on the windows and embedded at the walls after penetrating some other fittings, including the floors and ceilings too.<p>

He roared once again in a challenging furious manner at the abused bed; hunching down and fisting his hand with bent arm in provoking pose. His spines obtruded in spikes, up to the curved horns on the back of his neck; with bony gills-like layers on his shoulder blades carved his back together with thicken hard skin that was chillingly so relief-like. His face was contorted in a terrifying beast-mask with small horns protruded from his skin in perfect symetric pattern at the sides to the pointy horns adorning his forehead; three jagged ridges lined his head to the back of his skull. Some people would think the beast-Odin looked hellishly beautiful if they're into that sort of thing, the **Master** would find that appearance _cute_...-a cute ogre?

The Sixth gasped in alarm and reflexively pulled their swords out.

Treize widened his eyes; he used to hear people said 'Odin is a monster' but never really witnessed it in physical, and so he thought it was only a metaphor used by the easily-frightened people. -but then, the Aurilathans were supposed to be half-beasts; that's why the humans didn't see them as equals. So it's a proof that Odin was one...-

-...a vicious dominant too, at that. Should he say an alpha male?

Maybe that's why the girl's ancestors annihilated Odin's tribe...

"Odin!" Treize called levelly, his voice and tone didn't break by surprise or fear; his Sixth glanced cursorily at him looking for assurance and calmed down a level seeing their General's composedness.

The beast-Odin rumbled a warning, challenging the General to try to soothe his anger at that level. Myrica chuckled with a pleased sound as she enjoyed the happening, eyeing the demon that was thrown -but almost unbelievably gently so- to Odin's wounded side that was the farther side from the general's party, clutched with a protective hand from under his thighs looking like a small child compared to Odin's monstrous form.

Treize almost backed a step when Odin's eyes trained at his, they were bright yellow with black slits at the centers and shining striations forming beautiful patterns on the irises; the wild light in those eyes almost shocked him, it's like the eyes of a beast that never acknowledged him as an acquaintance much less a superior. The Ward reacted inside the General's link, and he understood that Odin was actually tied to it; like a Familiar to its human-master... and somehow he was saddened at the thought, knowing what the masters in that Palace had ordered the man to do -probably without his full consent too... like demolishing his blood's land-?

-...the demon said that no human in that Kingdom could...

He thought the demon was talking about forming the Contract; whereas he might have pointed about the _human_ part... that he wasn't going to make contract with a human; the Auri-girl that kept asking whether she could be his Contract should be enough affirmation that perhaps such Contract should be done between a demon and a non-human...

_Master of my master_... -that's what the demon called his little King back then; like maybe he meant it as in literal...that the demon could see it when he saw Odin the first time. Maybe Odin wasn't tied to the Ward, but to the Throne...or to the King's lineage...

Birds of the same feather...-or the same cage.

"...Odin." Treize called out again, a touch of vulnerability in his voice, like imploring. The Sixth glanced at him again in surprise, they frowned but didn't object out loud. "...should I call out the ties that bind you to-" Treize frowned almost sadly when Odin rumbled louder at him, he really didn't want to beat someone into submission... not someone he cared for.

"...that's not necessary..." A white hand sneaked up and touched Odin's face, the white wings flapped jerkily chasing off some cramps and then opened slowly; the outline missed a pair of almost upright fanned feathers that were his uppermost wings, now there were only the pairs of horizontal and the slanted down wings.

-Odin was right to be angry about that; ...the picture was almost seemed wrong in a rueful way.

"...it's just something that needed to be done..." the demon whispered in a coaxing tone. Well, almost.

"What for-?!" Odin's voice was rumbled with another growl underlying it, almost like the sound of two creatures speaking simultaneously; Treize somehow understood that it was the voice of the human-side and his beast-side altogether.

"-WHAT are you so angry FORRR?!" Myrica complained with a howl; an oval golden light that was floating above the destroyed bedrail opened like a cocoon and revealed the unscathed Myrica sitting in the air with her tail snaked from behind her and the ovoid eyeless head was actually _giggling_ when her hand petted it. She humph-ed.

"-you know I CANNOT kill you with the Blessing-line! -OR the other way around; so I ASKED you nicely!" she accused; "...besides, Lord Demon could become my Beast King without severing the Contract with you; it's the opposite, you could become his High Priest-"

Odin roared again, a short bark that meant to shut her up; Myrica clamped her mouth with a click, but then snarled her lips showing her fangs as if she was in disgust. "Or you just don't want to severe your ties with your master? -she was _that_ beautiful, huh?!"

Odin's beast-mask turned neutral; Treize's party snapped their eyes to him with arched brows. Odin had a love story...?! That's probably the most shocking revelation than him being a beast-

A sleek leer; "_BRAT_! Don't. Dictate. Me." Odin purred, as if he was enjoying a mind-game. His chuckles were rumbled, but it was an alien tone to Treize's ears; as if the beast-side had its own persona that wasn't quite Odin... the thought chilled his spine.

"She's dead!" Myrica said together with Odin; she was pointing it out while Odin's tone was a closure. They silenced afterwards, feeling the pause inserted itself with a mocking sneer reflected their words and thoughts back to them.

Treize swallowed his nervousness; _what is this?_ -his mind ran frantically in the mill that was his brain; he never heard of anything about Odin's past from his father, especially a past like that...! But if he thought about it, it's probably due to the fact that his father didn't know a thing about it too; except for some facts like he was notorious and obnoxious and liked to kick asses and someone you wouldn't want to make enemies with-

-but his predecessors might have known it that Odin could never turn enemy... if he was tied down...-to what? -to whom?

...Reconnaissance Troop, 28th Rank. It meant that Odin had been promoted to a higher level of ranks 28 times; if the man had accepted those promotions, he would have had a rank that was way higher than a General! It's impossible-! That's why the skeptical men had ignored that fact... It was just numbers and nothing else, they told themselves. Treize had once looked it up in the Military Logs but found it written in the Palace Journal, instead; meaning that Odin was appointed by someone from the Palace, with higher rank than the Military heads that were the Generals... which would be the King's family? -if not the King himself. But which King? That part was never written in details, or maybe it had been concealed.

Odin snorted; the beast-mask ceased slowly, the small horns on the sides of his face pulled in with wet cracking sounds of the closing broken skin, leaving the horns on his forehead jutted proudly on the still thickened hard-skin. "I gave my word to Queen Thenea that I won't let her children die a dog's death...!"

Myrica blinked, arching her brows.

"-well, I didn't set a time limit! I'll enjoy it while it's worth the fun...!" Odin said with a defiant tone, pulling his chin up. "YEEEESSS- Cute Master; I am _thaaat_ old...-!" he rolled his eyes, leering a grimace knowing Treize had a jawdrop without needing to see it.

-_but... -but... Queen Thenea was the King's great-grandmother!_

Myrica blinked again, staring at the gaping humans; a part of her brain couldn't understand what provoked them to react like that, despite she knew that their people had different lifespans...-since her beast-side ran on instincts, not logics. "The grandbrat would be 100 years old this year; that's why I thought I should come and pay my respect...!" she commented levelly.

"We have longer lifespan, the Wild ones... especially the lasts of our tribes; because we'd need to conserve our Blood and make sure we have offspring." she added glancing at Odin's face, an alien light lit her eyes for a second.

"...somehow you don't feel the need to conserve your Blood or make offspring, it's beyond me!" Myrica frowned folding her arms on her chest.

"...I told-" the demon forced a whisper out. Odin covered his mouth instantly.

"What's with you people and _babies_...?!" the man said with exasperated tone. A sigh answered him. "Don't you dare laugh, Heero; I'm offended!"

Heero's hand that was still on Odin's face tapped its fingers twice on the man's cheek, than fell limply; while his eyes closed and face turned neutral. Odin stared down at the brown head lulled on his shoulder with wings folded neatly; his demon looked tired, which meant that he was relaxed enough to let it showed even in the presence of a stranger and other people. A feeling of relief echoed in their shared link; he wasn't sure if it was his relief or the demon's...

A deep sigh. "-he needed to take that wound!" Myrica said with a grim tone.

Odin tsked, his appearance almost looked normal now. "I'll never hear the end of it, huh?! That poison-!"

"You could handle it in your beast-form, I know!" she frowned at Odin; "...but you're not a pure blood, so I didn't know if you still have it-"

"So you're worried...!" Odin leered with a mocking tone and a disturbing grin.

Myrica turned her head away, a vein popped on her temple. "Yeah, so?!"

"You're probably more worried about my demon than about me-!"

Myrica tsked in annoyance. "His Majestic-form was so grand, I couldn't help it! My tail saw a glimpse of it on the Palace court...!" she arched her shoulders; "He's a LORD, you know?! You're belittling him...!" she pointed out with unhappy frown.

"-we know he's a-..." Treize reflexively made an excuse.

"No. Not that kind of Lord...!" she cut frowning into The General's eyes, and snapped at Odin. "And I wasn't talking about your wound, but his wound...!"

Odin was inspecting his bloody left hand that the discoloration on his skin pulled into the red loops on his wrist. He snapped his eyes at Myrica with a new angry frown. She held her hands up.

"Huff; I thought so, you didn't realize it...!"

"Duo's seal-blades..." she glanced at Treize for a second, "-he had to take them or else they'd break the Contract!"

"You're in Blessing-line from blood; while he had a direct Blessing from my sister -the High Priestess, weaved into his life while it was forming. His mother didn't know she was pregnant at the time, if not for my sister telling them -but, hah...!" Myrica averted her eyes with a mocking snicker; "-his father was a real monster, you know? He didn't even have to make an effort to kill-; and you called _us_ monsters...!"

Treize stared her with a neutral face; he knew what kind of power Duo's father had -a little part of him felt grateful that the man killed himself before Duo could know him.

"Anyway...!" she turned to Odin again; "If Duo had pulled his Blessing, you would have lost, Grandbrat! He's in Blessing-lines too; mine! A Second-line is higher than your Fourth-line! But you still won't be able to kill each other! Lord Demon had warned you to stay away from Duo, right?! So start _thinking_...!"

Odin blinked at the harsh tone but didn't look like he care enough. "...that speck of blood on his wing..." he muttered flatly.

"You're lucky Duo didn't know about that!" Myrica cut. "If Lord Demon didn't take those seal-blades, they'd have ripped his body with that blood on him...! So I meant to cleanse it, so that Lord Demon could release himself from the seal, alright? I didn't mean to make those wings dirtier with more blood! -Sorry!" she admitted and ended it with defiant-ashamed tone.

"So that was what needed to be done...?!" Odin growled.

"-I belief that's what he meant." Myrica closed, glancing at the sleeping demon who didn't breathe.

Odin stared her flatly; she didn't break under the scrutiny. "So..." and he started smiling and was saying in slow, almost gentle tone; and people knew when Odin smiled that it wouldn't lead to something good. "-you're saying that _Master Duo_ had the upper hand to actually break my Contract with my demon;-"

"I didn't mean it like-"

"But you prevent that from happening and before he realized it, too...!" Odin cut Myrica's burst; "So you're protecting Master Duo...?"

Myrica blinked; "Well-" _No, Lord Demon was protecting Duo_, she thought; but she couldn't say that, she realized what he was doing when he made sure that every witness on and around the court thought he was protecting Odin, right? "No-yes, I meant to protect Duo..."

She cleared her throat feeling Odin's gaze actually scalded her skin; "-from the possibility of turning himself into your enemy; or being labeled one by you...!" she added the last part with an overly-convincing smile and nods.

Odin wasn't impressed.

"BECAUSE YOU CAN'T KILL EACH OTHERRRR! And the one ripped in the middle would be Lord Demon -you are so childishly annoying for a 100 years old oldman, _oldman_!" Myrica barked eventually, she needed a leeway.

"Anyway, Cama is after the perpetrator; and the drooling Lesard is after Cama chasing the perpetrator... so if you want to have a chance to catch the perpetrator, I suggest you call back the Lesard before it eats my antler...!" Myrica flicked a hand towards the door to the laundry landing; "-I assume you didn't give the Lesard permission to swallow the perpetrator, right?"

Odin blinked.

Treize turned his head at Odin and blinked repeatedly, cuing him that he was waiting for the man to do something.

". . . like you think the Lesard would come if I call out to it?!" Odin asked with an offended frown.

"Well...?" Myrica and Treize actually said together it's almost comical. Too bad Odin knew he couldn't point that out without having a furious General breathing fire on his tail -not that he had one to be minded, though. The-cat stared at him lazily from Treize's shoulder; and Odin knew _he_ was giggling in _his_ mind-space that was not visible in physical form; and he thought... -_Okay, just get me a damn new bed already! -_since he started to feel that he needed to lie down; or lie his demon down so he could inspect that damn seal-blades wounds...

"Lesard..." Odin started with a growl; "...I'm raping your rider and the General is watching with his entourage...!"

"WHAT?!" Treize asked in disbelief with redden face.

A long whistling sound pulled their concentration to their ears; it's getting louder and ended with a loud bang and the already abused bed burst in more splinters with rock fragments rained into the room and a large gaping hole was now adorning Odin's wall letting the breeze in and a very annoyed-drooling Sauria was chomping at Odin's head glancing frantically in turns at the human party under its deep frown...

Treize noticed a piece of black cloth stuck on its scythe-limb; "Did you get the perpetrator?!"

-_Kreeeeee?!  
><em>Lix purred a question with incomprehensive tone.

"The General meant the human you were chasing, Lesard...!" Odin said from between the lizard's jaws; pushing the lower jaw with his free hand so that his face wasn't touching the droolly tongue.

-_eeek?  
><em>Lix blinked its big eyes, arching its thick brow-skin and made a questioning expression.

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahaahh...!" Myrica laughed as the oval light opened around her again, hitting her laps with both hands, and suddenly froze with serious face. "I told you the-kid was chasing my _antler_...!" she repeated slowly with pressure.

Lix squeaked and pointed outside through the gaping hole on the wall towards the town.

"The crow escaped into the City?" Treize asked with alert tone. The lizard blinked at him; not really grasping what was happening, but realized its chase had ended. So it let Odin's head go with a wet cough.

Odin gave Lix a grudgeful stare, but the lizard didn't pay attention to his face. Looking around and turned its long body towards the floating girl after giving the objecting General a few wet sniffs, Lix arched its lizard-brows up with a surprised squeak seeing Myrica's tail beckoning it.

"-LITTLE DOGIIIIIIIIEE...!" Myrica instantly sought the lizard's head with both hands.

"Oh, for Ground's sakes! It's a lizard, not a dog!" Odin objected exasperatedly while wiping the lizard's drools from his face.

-_Kreeeeaaaa-ke-ke-kee...!  
><em>Lix looked like it was laughing and jolted its scythe-limbs happily when the Auri-girl rubbed the undersides of its muzzle, its tail made a waggling 'U' in an undignified way for a huge lizard to do.

"-And don't make weird sounds, Lesard!" Odin would slap his forehead if it's not already slimy.

"Ha! You're just jealous that you couldn't handle-!"

SNAP!  
>-and the world clicked into slimy black, with a wet gurgling sound and a loud burp.<p>

Treize gaped while his Sixth made surprised yelps and pointed their weapons and the satisfied-looking lizard was licking its lines of teeth with its long blue tongue innocently.

Odin blinked with a bland face.

"...Lesard! That's the grandchild of mine you're not allowed to swallow...?" he asked as if reminding Lix about something they'd agreed before; or maybe he should have made that agreement.

Lix turned its head to Odin again, sniffing the man several times and snorted long at his face; gave a greeting lick to the sleeping demon and walked to the landing with swaying happy gait.

The rest of the people left in the room stared at the disappearing lizard, most of them were still gaping at the sudden end of what was still unconcluded... -or was it?

"...and that's that." Odin closed. "Would you mind sending me a new bed with proper bedding that would be to _your liking_?" he asked levelly at the General.

"-I'll move you to a new room!" Treize shook his head trying to chase away the last thing happened that was still burning behind his eyes.

"What's wrong with my room?!" Odin growled.

"It's broken!"

"It's breezy; and I don't need to worry about drapes for the new window!"

"-ODIN, FOR GODS' SAKES, IT'S A HUGE HOLE -FORGET IT! Wait for your new bed here!" Treize threw his arms and left; but came back again pointing towards the landing. "THE SAURIA SWALLOWED-"

"I saw that too." Odin confirmed levelly.

Treize blinked. "IT SWALLOWED YOUR-"

"Yes. That happened sometimes." Odin confirmed again.

"AAAH -OKAY! Treat your wound! -and him!" Treize gave up and pointed his finger at the demon.

Odin frowned unhappily and turned his body a little so that Treize's finger didn't point at his demon. "I know!"

"Good!" Treize turned, walked a couple wide strides but came back again with a snap; jumped and clouted Odin on the head and left with an exasperated growl.

Odin grimaced with offended frown at his closing doors. "The hell's his problem...?!", knowing the-cat was grinning from ear to ear in _his_ mind-scape staring at his expression.

"Aren't you going to leave my space?!" he growled at two of the Sixth that were still standing in his chamber.

"We're taking guard, to make reports to the General." one of them quipped.

"Like I ever need _protection_...?!" Odin barked with angry tone.

"But you did." the other one pointed out simply. It shut Odin up instantly; thinking that he would never hear the end of it if he didn't make anything bigger than that to cover that slip up.

So he complied and waited in silence; sitting on the chair with his demon still in his arm, and turned his mind-wheel to plot something that could go off with a louder bang than the sound of the demon's Lesard breaking its way into the chamber.

-...he was smiling, wider and sweeter with more passing time; and the two Sixth there pretended they did NOT see it... and that it didn't directed at them.

"_. . . but why?" I sniffle, "_He_ feels your pain; so you should treat _Him_...!"_

"_Odin..." He wipes the tears from my cheek; "_He_ feels my pains; and I feel _His_. And it's not something you should be concerned about, so please don't be upset..." His blinding smile blinds my eyes- it's like the sun; is that why _He_ always looks up at the sky? Because _He_'s searching for _His_ sun...?_

_-But _His_ Sun doesn't search for _Him_..._

* * *

><p>Duo arched his brows when he realized he was in a black world, feeling light and actually quite content.<p>

He must have fainted -nope!  
>His body must have fainted... Ooh, he felt sorry that Cail had to carry him to his chamber again.<br>Great; he thought, if Treize heard about him fainting a lot, the man would freak out again...!  
>He decided to change his mind's track from that;<br>there was that one nagging his thought since when he was still in Relena's memory-scape.  
>So what if Heero wasn't a demon...?<p>

Wouldn't that annul the Contract from the beginning?  
>Hmm... not quite, right?<p>

_That would just mean that the demon Kingdom didn't really oblige to fulfill the Peace Pact..._-

. . . . . . -oh, wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -**WHAAAAAAAAT?!**

Duo opened his eyes instantly; wide, somewhat frightened eyes... the voice of his mind was still ringing in his ears saying its last shriek, as if a loud booming thunder that kept a ghost of its reverberating after-sound in his brain, clamoring in his skull like a commotion of his brain cells making a coup against his shocked mind.

Cail stilled beside the bed, a bowl of water in his left hand, a wet cloth in his right; he blinked and sighed out a relief smile, and sat on the chair and dabbed the wet cloth gently to Duo's face. "I was going to call for the healers to look at you... again; but then the General is not here yet... Well, I hope he hadn't... like when we're not in here-?" he grimaced at the last part; he didn't want to meet the fact that the General had come there only to find them not there before he gave the clearance to leave-

"I _was_ grounded, yeah...?" Duo gave an almost grimacing smile; the déjà vu feeling slapped his brain back to reality.

Cail laughed dryly without merry tone.

"Duo, I'm coming in...!" Treize shouted from outside the doors and opened them with an unhappy frown.

Cail jumped by surprise and threw the bowl from his hand and Duo tried to catch it and their hands hit each other's and lost the bowl a couple times and it landed on the bed with Duo's body reflexively tackled it down on the wet bed...

Treize stopped at the sight of Duo and the Lieutenant chuckling breathlessly trying to make it without a sound and it's obviously wrecked their hunched bodies -the Lieutenant's on the night stand, and Duo's on the bed- with laughing tremors and pained stomachs; and he frowned deeper at them for being wet.

"...both of you are too old to play water in the room; especially on bed...!" Treize criticized coolly.

"-sorry... accidents happen...-!" Duo tried between breathy giggles and wheezes. Treize didn't look impressed but he let it slide; walked over to Duo, nodded his acknowledgment when the Lieutenant sprang to his feet to greet him.

Duo sat up and put the bowl from under his body on the night stand, still trying to stop his grin from blossoming but he didn't really care that he was rather too merry-looking when he's being grounded. Treize brushed the air around his head with a hand; his frown hadn't loosened yet; if ever, it was getting deeper. Duo thought he had to do something about that...-

"Did someone touch you?" his older cousin beat him to it; Duo blinked, his grin froze in a click.

"...why do you ask that?" he reflexively asked back.

Treize made a contemplating hum to himself and didn't answer, only checking Duo's complexion and eyes, and didn't seem to become alert over something he suspected. Duo thought Treize could sense whatever-air clinging on his being with the scent of Relena's Familiar in it on his body, so he half-awarely spoke-

"I should apologize..." Duo started remorsefully; "-it was wrong of me to ignore you... and to attack Heero, and ...all that..."

Treize didn't comment to that, so Duo tried another way.

"...is he alright?"

Treize stared into his eyes for several seconds, Duo didn't like that his frown still hadn't loosened even for a bit. "He's hurt."

Duo blinked his mind back, an image of Heero's stoic face that was floating in his mind started to drown in red; he widened his eyes in horror. "Wh-... I didn't-!"

Treize was going to use that to teach Duo his lesson, but seeing his guilty expression in horror he decided he didn't want to let Duo fall that deep. "Some assassin managed to get Odin; Heero shared the wound through their shared-link."

Duo froze and gaped; "Odin's hurt?" he gasped.

Treize recognized that Duo felt genuinely worried, either for Odin's safety because Heero deemed his existence important, or because Odin's safety means Heero's safety; but there was no resentment or bogus sympathy in Duo's eyes. He felt relieved for that and let his anger dissipate.

"Odin is more resilient than what you think; ...Heero is currently resting. But it's not what I came here for." Treize said levelly.

Duo blinked and cooled down, though his shoulders stiffened a little. "Okay." he said looking at his nervous hands.

Treize took a long unnecessary pause and Duo stole glances at his face; the man didn't seem to realize he'd done it, so Duo thought he should expect something in classification of doom coming out from his cousin's mouth. What else could be so difficult to get into words?

"Did you use your _hands_ before _all that_?" Treize asked flatly, his frown showed that he knew the answer to that and didn't like it.

"What?" Duo arched his brows in surprise. "No -I might have lost it a couple times when I had nightmares; but never before with my full intention...!"

"A couple times?" Treize tested.

Duo's face twitched uncomfortably and he gave in after a few seconds passed; ". . . -several times; but not in my waking hour!"

Treize paused at Duo's defensive tone and just studied his expression; Duo felt even more uncomfortable under the scrutiny and averted his eyes.

". . . supposing this Kingdom depends on you, and not the Peace Contract; can you win it?" Treize asked slowly.

"Win what?" Duo frowned.

"War."

"-with the demons?" Duo asked in disbelief; "You mean the demon _King-dom_...?!"

Treize nodded once with level face.

". . . -wha . . . . . . -then what about Heero?" Duo asked worriedly, he started to develop a sick feeling in his guts.

"Depending on Heero's Contract is too risky; you knew how fragile it is in terms..." Treize said levelly.

"Yeaa- but no one's engaged in a war and turn up as casualty...!" Duo quipped.

Treize cocked his head a little and stared into Duo's eyes deeply; and Duo clamped his mouth with a click realizing that he'd dived in and drowned himself completely from head to toes. He sagged his shoulders and averted his eyes with a grimace. ". . . I see your point -it''s cheating making me say it...!" he accused with flushed cheeks.

Duo waited for a full minute staring at the floor, but the admonishment didn't come eventhough he was waiting to hear it. Stealing a glance and found Treize's wall-like level face that was almost devoid of emotion, a spark of worry went off in his heart again. "Treize...-"

". . . was that an option . . .?" Duo asked slowly sounding like a child.

Treize blinked but didn't look at his eyes anymore. "You're grounded for a week, Duo. Do not leave this room without my permission!" he stood up.

"This ROOM?!" Duo inched to the edge of the bed in haste. "I'd die of boredom!"

"Read books. Make charms. Do anything that doesn't concern you as a Maxwell." Treize said flatly.

"I get it! I understand...!" Duo hurriedly jumped off his bed and rounded his cousin and held his arms stopping him from walking further. "I'll apologize to Odin! I'd beg him for anything if it's necessary! Just please don't make me-"

"He's okay, Duo...!" Treize cut sternly, looking down at Duo's pleading eyes and felt bad for what happened.

"-...who?" Duo gasped.

Treize sighed and melted, held Duo's head with both arms and pulled it onto his chest. "You're so transparent I have to worry about you all the times...!" he muttered.

Duo blinked and mulled it over, and he knew that Treize knew he was worried about Heero to the point of panicking, and clamped his mouth in embarrassment and took the arrangement to hide his face on his cousin's chest. Treize knew how he felt despite that, and chuckled softly.

"Heero's okay; if he's not, Odin would have exploded...he's someone even I cannot contain! I don't think he would forbid you to be around Heero, though; he'd looked at you as his new toy, already. So, if anything, I'd rather you stay away from them for the time being." Treize said softly.

Duo blinked several times in thinking but didn't say anything.

"I'm more worried about you being a Maxwell, than about him being a demon." Treize added.

"Sorry." Duo said in reflex.

"If anything ever happens again between Odin and my cousin; I give you permission to hit Odin before my cousin does." Treize said louder staring at the Lieutenant.

"...Sir?" Cail had the expression of a thief that was caught red handed, and Duo instantly felt sorry for the man; knowing what Treize had in mind.

"Then it'd be between you and Odin; without jeopardizing the Contract." Treize said simply.

The Lieutenant blinked rapidly, chasing his bafflement away. "...Yessir!" he half-reflexively answered; but his mind had yet processing what that order implied.

"And you, have more self-control!" Treize pushed Duo at arm-length.

"Yes...!" Duo pouted staring at the floor behind his cousin; he was angry at himself, too.

Treize nodded, quite satisfied with the answer. "Now, do you know anything about Sanctuary Trees?"

Duo's brows shot up almost to his hairline; "...o-...that! ...-no." he sounded baffled and disappointed at the same time.

"Okay. Heero had never done anything openly before; I'll just wait and see how things develop from now on. So, please, stay away from anything for awhile."

"I-...I know, I'm sorry. He's kind, you know?!" Duo asked hastily, pulling at Treize's cuff when he released him.

"Duo... kindness and loyalty don't always get along..." Treize stroked Duo's head with his other hand; his smile didn't reach his eyes. Duo gasped but no more word formed in his mouth; he was being contradictive, and couldn't even say his side.

Treize patted his head and left; "...I'll do something." he offered before the doors closed. Whatever that meant.

* * *

><p>Treize walked down the corridor in silence; the sounds of his steps didn't falter, but his mind was weighed with new thoughts. He didn't like not knowing...<p>

He stopped somewhere near a junction.

"Rianka, make room." he muttered.

The-cat materialized on his left shoulder, _his_ long tails circled the space around Treize and secured it. Treize sighed and closed his eyes; calling out to the Palace Ward and connected a link to the Covenant. A spell-circle shone under his feet, a pole of light in front of him; it opened like a gate and revealed an apparition of a Mother standing in calm pose with her hands at her front hidden under the long flap of her maroon hood that reached her ankles. Her black dress under the flaps looked solemn, but she was smiling with kindness.

"Bless you, my child..." she spoke.

Treize opened his eyes and frowned lightly. "...please don't lump me together with the others...?"

She chuckled, her eyes lit up and shone with motherly warmth. "I'm sorry; are you in trouble, already...?"

Treize thinned his lips and gave the stare, but it was lasted only for a second.

"Duo is _really_ more than a handful, hm?" she beat him before he objected.

"That's not what I link with you for..."

She arched her brows.

"Well... not entirely." he admitted fast; "Did you know that Odin is an Aurilatha?" he frowned.

"Mm-hm." she nodded.

Treize's frown got deeper. "...why didn't you tell me-?"

"But you never asked." she interjected fast.

Treize gasped but sighed it out; he wouldn't win that argument. "...did Father know?"

"What do you think?" her smile thinned.

Treize tsk-ed. "That's between him and Odin, then. Do you know anything about Odin and Queen Thenea?"

She chuckled amusedly before Treize could say another thing. "You'd like to think Odin had a love-story, hmm?"

Treize frowned like he was offended by her merry tone.

"Did someone come for him?" she asked when her chuckles subsided. Treize was objecting with his stare that his question got answered by a question, but she cocked her head demanding her answer and he gave in; he got the-stare from her, anyway.

"An Auri-girl, saying she was Odin's _grandbrat_...!"

The Mother chuckled merrier; "...yes, yes. He's _that_ old, already...!" she gasped between chuckles. "So?"

"So?" Treize asked back.

"So what do you think?" she asked fast.

"...about?" Treize sounded impatient and almost rolled his eyes.

"About Auri-males." she arched her brows again.

Treize blinked; didn't expect that to come. "Males-?"

"Hmmm... aren't they sweet?" she hummed dreamily.

Treize narrowed his eyes. ". . . Mother . . .!"

"They take good care of their younger females, Treize. Depending on their tribes and their customs, there should be some alteration to the practice; but in general, there's a blood-tradition that strong males take weak or distressed younger females under their wings. Like sworn-little sister...!" she brightened at the end.

Treize mulled at the information. "So... Queen Thenea..."

She chuckled. "Yes; unfortunately, that's what Queen Thenea to him. But isn't that endearing of him...?" and closed it deeper chuckles.

-. . . to protect one's heirs to the point that he'd lost his own identity...? His mind whispered that Odin might still hold his promise to Queen Thenea until his last breath; that's the kind of man he was...

"So, Odin is older than her?" he asked flatly.

"I heard he met her when they were still adolescents, he looked a few years older than her... but you couldn't really tell with the Aurilatha." she smiled. "What's this really about? You feel for Odin...?"

Treize looked offended. "Please don't say it disgustingly."

Her laughing-bubbles popped and she laughed openly as if hearing the best joke of her life.

". . . . . . Mo-theeeer . . . !" Treize objected slowly.

She fought to stop her laughter, and cupped Treize's cheeks. "Ohh... Treize, Son; you're still as cute as ever...!"

Treize fought hard to keep himself from rolling his eyes, and she knew it.

"So... what trouble are you in?" she asked gently.

"Why did you decide to go to the Covenant?" he asked lightly. "Was it to stay away from the politics, or for Duo?"

She blinked and took a step back, releasing Treize's face gently with a kind smile. "What kind of answer do you want to hear?"

Treize closed his eyes and sighed; "I'm sorry, it's not you; I'm just worried about Duo...!"

She tinkered and nodded; "Duo could take care of himself; -belief me, I know...!" she pressurized at the end. She was implying something that he couldn't quite catch, but he let it passed.

He felt more at ease knowing that Odin was still the Odin he knew before revealing that he was an Aurilathan, or that he had a grandchild that somehow connected to Duo by fate -or karma, and that Duo was so... Duo. He at least should feel grateful about the last fact; his duty now was to protect Duo from being too Maxwell-y.

He snickered at the last thought; and just realized that his Mother was watching him with amusement, her eyes shone with pride... and it made him embarrassed. He cleared his throat; "It's ...-fine. I'm sorry to have suddenly bothered you, Mother."

"Off, now?" she sounded disappointed, "Let me see you for a while longer...!" and cupped his face again, searching into his eyes and quite satisfied that he still had that unwavering gaze; and kissed his forehead -not like they could feel the touch physically, but it's enough that they could still experience that contact. ". . . take care, My Son." she smiled; and not long her figure closed into a pole of light again and the spell-circle died under Treize's feet.

Treize was still staring at where his Mother's eyes were before, although it was an empty space now. His mind felt exalted seconds ago; but it soon felt like drowning again...

-. . . the problem now was Heero.

He felt the guilt biting, already.

x - - - - - - - -x  
>x - - - - - - - -x<p>

**thanx for reading**

_saru's note:_  
><em>trying to work while trying to find a house to buy is not working and buying... (it doesn't make sense, hu?)<em>


	23. Chapter 23

**Another -21 october '13**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: saru keep rebounding from being very happy to being utterly unhappy and is thinking too much and still want a husky pup...! (even if he'd be short-thinned-haired in our climate) '; _

**chapter 23**

tap tap tap tap tap- turn-  
>tap tap tap tap tap- turn-<br>tap tap tap tap tap- turn-  
>tap tap tap tap tap- turn-<br>tap tap tap tap tap- turn-  
>tap tap tap tap tap- turn-<p>

". . . Duo, please; you're not helping yourself being this strung up...!" Cail said with worried frown; his eyes were already tired tailing Duo's pacing in the room.

Duo frowned back at him with a sharp pout; "-...then, can you find anything new?!"

Cail took a sharp inhale, like he was going to say something hard but thought it wasn't going to help and let it out with a sigh; "I've just asked my soldier to see not ten minutes ago...!" he pointed out slowly.

Duo stared at him like a defiant child, but slowly his face turned like he was worried sick and his eyes became watery. "But he hasn't woken uuup! ...it's been 4 days, already! I wasn't-! I didn't- I...-!"

"I didn't hurt him that much, did I...?" Duo was fighting back tears visibly.

Cail stared Duo's pleading face with sympathy; but he wasn't allowed to leave Duo's side, and Duo wasn't allowed to leave the room; so he couldn't really push anything to find out about the demon's injury... knowing his men wouldn't dare cross Odin's territory.

". . . and he was just recuperating from the journey- I was just going to see his condition- it _was_ his first day out- WHAT WAS I THINKINGGG?!" Duo started pacing left and right again and messed his hair with both hands; it wasn't in a braid anymore, just a loose tied mess sticking out everywhere. In the past days, the facts and the reasons came haunting him with the bites of reality; and as he started to realize it, suddenly his excuses became invalid and ate him alive knowing he'd really lost it back then, like he didn't know himself anymore... like his Nightmare had taken over his body to become another being completely; and that was his biggest fear -but the worst thing was that he knew it was inevitable.

Cail followed him with his eyes, already given up trying to stop him; somewhat amazed that a Duo with anxiety-attack had more energy than an experienced arena-combatant to move nonstop for days and nights with barely enough food. Or maybe he shouldn't have provided him coffee when that boy asked a cup or a pitcher from him. Or sugar, for that matter.

-a _lot_ of sugar...!  
>His eyes narrowed accusingly at the stack of candy cubes on the table, already strewn out of their box; and as if on cue, Duo's hand grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his mouth; then continued on his pacing-track, crunching and grinding those hard candies in his mouth angrily.<p>

A commotion was barely heard from the other side of the thick doors; Cail took the diversion almost gratefully, stood up from the chair and walked briskly to the doors. Knowing Duo ignored him all the same.

An almost disgruntled Dignitary with face flushed with excitement and eyes lit with hope grinned widely at him as he opened the doors; the crossing lances from the guards separated them as Cail closed the doors as silent as he could, not wanting to alert Duo in his state.

"Lieutenant, good to see you!" the Dignitary said, somehow looking like he'd won a marathon race to get there; a large box in his hands which he held with pride. "Is Master Maxwell in?"

Cail almost thought he saw the man drooled when he said Maxwell.

"I have no obligation to provide you information or access; if you have anything you'd like to say, you could contact General Kushrenada." Cail said with business tone.

"Oh, please..." the man chuckled, "We don't need that much of bureaucracy to welcome a Maxwell into the vicinity, do we?"

Cail stared him levelly until the man felt awkward and stopped chuckling.

"Ahem... can't you at least give Master Maxwell this humble gift?" the man tried.

"You can present that through General Kushrenada, thank-you." Cail nodded in military style and didn't take the time to see the man's face fell; this was the 28th power-hungry Palace man he'd denied in the last four days. The next one should at least have a higher rank than Odin with that number, he sarcastically thought to himself as he closed the double doors.

Duo was in the middle of messing his hair and was pausing as he stared Cail walking from the doors. ". . . another one?!"

Cail didn't need to answer that.

"-aaaaaaaaghh!" Duo started his pacing and messing his hair again; he should have known that showing his _hands_ in public would lead to this kind of personal hell, Treize meant well grounding him, to protect him from those hungry flies as they smell something putrid... -_wait; did he just say that he smells putrid?_

"Yes, you did." Cail answered with a chuckle.

-_euuugh!_  
>Duo stared the man's back acidly as he paused his track; noticing Cail came back to him with two wooden swords in his hands.<p>

"If you want to work some anger out, why don't you try fighting it out?" he offered as he threw one to Duo.

"Usually I prefer long sticks." Duo frowned but caught the wooden sword with a hand.

"Long sticks are too long to be used in this room." Cail smiled, already took a stance. "Is that your stance?"

"What's wrong with me doing this?" Duo asked still pouting; he was holding the sword hilt-up blade-down at arm-length in front of him, his thumb at the upper side. That could work for an agile dagger user, but a sword was too long to be handled like that, Cail thought.

"Okay, whatever works for you; but I'm kind of bored too, so I'm going to exercise some sweat out. You sure you won't take this seriously? Because a wooden sword could at least bruise you-"

"Are you going to fight or chat?!" Duo's pout got sharper.

Cail chuckled at his childish tone and took an experimental swing with his wooden sword.

* * *

><p>Treize stared at the crow feathers on his desk in the dark; he felt like he wanted solitude and had closed the thick drapes of his study so that no light peeked into the room.<p>

The one from the Great Judge's dead body was on the left, the one from Odin's chamber was on the right; they looked similar in daylight but they were actually different. The left one had a sheen of purple aura in the dark, and he could see it because of his link with the Palace Ward; while the right one had melted completely with its surrounding, a common great-crow's stealth ability -the only thing uncommon about it was its size... a great-crow's wing feather could easily beat a broom's length with its handle included.

There was a suggestion that the killer of the Great Judge was a shape-shifter-beast user; but the one that likely to indicate it was a shape-shifter-beast was the size of the great-crow's feather. He did suspect that when his Kitten lost it when _he_ chased that great-crow out of the Palace from the Court at that time; the assassins developed new skills with more passing days, but he never heard about a shape-shifting beast-

No.

The problem here was not about assassins and hitmen; they're always around any time... the thing he should be concern of was that purple aura emitting from that crow feather. There was only one place in the whole land where such birds grew that kind of feathers, and that was Arn'crad Academy towers; being exposed to the magic energy there for generations-

"I don't like this." he muttered with depressed tone.

He knew most of the Dignitaries were against his King, under their false masks; the small part of them who were really loyal to the Kingdom were too afraid to come forth, the rest were too caught up in securing their own positions in the Palace and would turn to anyone with the most benefits without shame. But Arn'crad was never in that area; granted, their scholar-heads now were too arrogant in their exclusive classes to be involved in such power struggle. But because of their exclusiveness too that they'd be more likely had their own agenda in this game, even more if they were using the authorities for their cause. It's possible that the Great Judge had outlived his usefulness to them and was gotten rid to protect their secrecy. The Factory was indeed built from the minds of Arn'crad scholars.

-but, no.  
>If secrecy was the reason, then leaving a crow feather that pointed straight to them would beat that whole scheme; unless, it was the outcome of two different things happening in the same time? Or were there fractions in the scholars' diagram that's breaking their own system?<p>

Purple had been the color of great magicians, saying their aura was colored purple; the darker it was the greater the magic... Crows had been used in vast area as signs or names, from outlaws to hunters to outlaw-hunters to mercenaries to meat-butchers to troupes to librarians to stores to everything...! There's even a tailor shop in the city using it as the shop's name. Bars names. Toymaker shop's name. Bakeries names. Landmarks names. Buildings names. Farm names, as odd as it sounded- ...and titles too.

Apparently the people of this land loved crows...!

He massaged his throbbing temples with a hand; as he thought about those things with a crow in them, his memory provided him with mental flashes of their images, and it made him have a really bad headache. For some reason as he thought about the tailor shop, the image that came flashing in his mind were of black silhouettes of what apparently to be metal-works of four crows facing each other. He didn't take notice the first time, but after he forced his brain to stop recalling whatever things associated with crow in their names and that image of silhouettes of four crows came unbidden in his mind again, he started to get annoyed and mulled about it. He knew well that image; the Crow Clock in the Plaza... Clock and tailor didn't match...

-or did they?

Treize stood up instantly, and ran to his book shelves; brushing the books with his mind, knowing what he wanted wasn't there.

"Rian-kitten." he breathed, but before he finished it the-cat already materialized on his left shoulder, tails looped around his neck possessively; an old book was clutched with one tail in front of his face. The-cat yawned and clawed at his shoulder before lying on _his_ belly lazily and letting _his_ hind legs hanging at Treize's back. _He_ acted like _he_ didn't care to see what Treize was doing as he opened the book hastily, but peered with an eye when Treize made a triumphant exclaim half-consciously; the-cat knew he seldom did that, and although _he_ wasn't curious about the whole business, _he_ wanted to see what he was seeing to provoke such a reaction.

The book showed a beautiful hand-drawn picture in a full page; it was the drawing of a crow standing with dignified pose, a plaited colorful headdress adorned its head, with embroidered flaps at the sides; the black bird was wearing a purple ceremonial _cloak_ with red gemstones embedded on the its chest making a formation.

The picture wasn't a crest or signet.

It was the self-portrait of the legendary magic-wielder whose name became Arn'crad itself; together with the founder of the academy; Cradens was the name, the wizard who built the school... but the reason that people of this land loved crows so much was her, the one in the picture; Arneliria the Noble Crow, the shape-shifter.

. . . the first CrimsonStar. No; that title was hers, referring to the red gemstones on her chest.

Treize closed the book with a puff; staring at a faraway spot that his mind pointed to him.

-_there's currently a CrimsonStar in the Palace_!

He called out to his Shadows then with his mind; one of them materialized at the corner of the room near the book shelves. Treize frowned at _him_, and the Shadow bowed slowly before disappearing into the darker shade of the dark room.

The-cat swayed the ends of _his_ tails lazily.

'You're busy, lately.' the-cat commented in their link.

'I'm always busy...!' Treize frowned to himself, putting the book into the locked drawer of his desk.

'...you know what I mean.' the-cat cracked an eye open and playfully placed a claw on Treize's cheek, as if marking it.

Treize snorted. '. . . did you really lose that great-crow back then; or you changed your mind and returned?'

The-cat purred on his shoulder. 'Would that make a difference now?'

'It would, to my mind!' Treize thought matter-of-factly.

The-cat opened _his_ eyes widely, stood up on _his_ human's shoulder and sat gracefully; and stared at the man's eyes deeply. 'Would you favor your little-cousin, or Odin?'

Treize frowned at _him_ from the ends of his eyes. 'I _wouldn't_!' he thought with a closure.

The-cat flicked _his_ head and closed his eyes; '...then, I changed my mind and returned to you.' _he_ said while melting to black smoke swirling around _his_ human's neck in loops before disappearing.

Treize tsk-ed with depression in the dark room; he realized that if he still couldn't make a decision, then his-cat wouldn't take sides; besides his- ...but why even his-cat pressed the choice between Duo and Odin? Why did he even have to choose? -were there even sides between Duo's and Odin's? Of what?!

His Shadow reported of _his_ findings in Treize's mind and he jerked to business-mode in no time.

"Must you do this by yourself...?" the-cat in _his_ little-girl form instantly gripped the side of his jacket with _his_ small hand, knowing Treize would leave immediately; the slow chanted sentence made Treize paused in his haste to wait until it was finished spoken.

"-I could go, instead of you." Rianka offered. Treize looked behind at his-cat; knowing the-cat had an insatiable fond to magic-users. Especially those who were still very young; like sprouts of hidden seeds in a wizard's secret garden... wasn't that how the-cat found him when he was still a child? Came to think of it; the pedophile one between them was probably the-cat and not him...! -that's right; legends said Arneliria in her human-form never looked older than a 10 years old girl, it's probably connected somehow with the familiars' fondness to magic-user children.

Rianka blinked innocently at Treize's bothered frown; he snorted and continued his pace, letting the-cat tag him along, half-running with _his_ small steps.

* * *

><p>The rocking chair creaked softly with its movements, the yellow oblique sunlight streamed through the round window frame with crossing bars in its inside; the sounds of people from the crowded market down the street reached the attic room on and off.<p>

A bottle of spirit on the coffee table next to the rocking chair left open, tantalizing the air with its smell.

Myrica mouthed the lyric to the song faintly heard from the building across the street, closing her eyes to the gentle sway of the rocking chair; left hand on her lower belly, stroking it lightly with care.

"-it's weird seeing you act like you're pregnant...!" a voice suddenly cut the calm air from the shadow by the corner of the room behind the rocking chair.

Myrica smirked, probably to herself as she didn't open her eyes to react.

"-why did you save Odin?" the voice asked levelly.

"Hmm... why did you save Duo?" Myrica mumbled like she was too lazy to speak.

". . . . . . I did not."

"You did too...-" Myrica said in a sigh. "That Insidio; you used your brother to do the dirty work, the eye witnesses might think that the great-crow was taking him to flee. But I know where that foul man ended up; as you do... as some full bellied great-crows do too- well, maybe not _that_ full with that man's size...-" she smirked in the end.

"Why did you target Duo-?" the voice had a slight angry tone in it.

Myrica chuckled. "Why...-? Is someone jealous because I'm in this form?"

The voice didn't answer.

"...you still had yet answered my question; why did you save Duo? He was supposed to be your target, Cyrenn the Great Whisperer; or did you change your mind?" Myrica cracked her eyes open and leered to the round window.

" . . . I did my job with the Diggers- don't make it sound like I'm a deserter...!" the voice sounded angry and a figure in black cloak came out from the shadow. "You...-! You used Duo to get inside the Palace Ward! Using Alata as his ride and made her let inside normally, and no one realized that Alata was a teleporter-beast!"

-and that was how she escaped from inside the Lesard's belly too.

"That's called infiltration, Dear... -A successful one, too." Myrica smiled wide and closed her eyes again. "So why did you save Duo? You even used your beasts to guard him along the way, waking him up to alertness each time he's about to collapse on Alata. You realized that if he didn't get back into the Palace, I wouldn't have infiltrated that failure of a Palace Ward?"

"Hngg-..." the half face visible under the black cloak's hood looked uncomfortable and turned away; "You betrayed your own freight, exposing them to the Palace men and the demo-"

"CYRENN! I'VE ASKED YOU THREE TIMES ALREADY!" Myrica barked, opening her eyes instantly. Cyrenn jerked with a gasp and almost took a step back.

"-BECAUSE...-!" Cyrenn barked back but couldn't find the right answer herself.

". . . because he's good to you?" Myrica asked levelly, and mocked; "He was good to _Renn the poor servant-girl,_ pitying her life story and all; if he'd known you're a whisperer who'd used the beasts to wipe out villages, and the one responsible for that _real_ poor girl's life story; you think he'd still be good to you?!" Myrica frowned; "-and I thought you despise humans."

"Duo is a Maxwell-!" Cyrenn grimaced her excuse to hide her fear; leaving the '_-,not a human_' part left unsaid.

"It's because he's a Maxwell that I didn't want him back into the Palace." Myrica cut levelly; the words alone already had enough matter-of-factly value.

Cyrenn clamped her lips. ". . . -you could've told me what to-"

"I've told you to not let anyone get out of Mainstay." Myrica reasoned. "...or do you have a thing for demons too?"

"No." Cyrenn pouted dignifiedly, but her chin trembled. Myrica didn't need to see it, she could taste the emotions emanating from Cyrenn in the air.

"Why did you target Odin by yourself?" Myrica asked as if she wasn't interested. "You know if you don't succeed, he'll hunt you down even to hell? -I had to clean up your trails, even..."

"I'm sorry! He looked like he's already-"

"He's more resilient than me!" Myrica said matter-of-factly this time; "-and you couldn't even scratch me...!"

Cyrenn flattened her lips at the admonishment. They silenced for some time.

". . . you like Duo?" Myrica eventually asked with a testing tone.

Cyrenn chewed her lower lip in troubled manner; "-do you?!"

The rocking chair stopped suddenly with a final creak; Myrica snickered in amusement. "You're really jealous...?!"

Cyrenn scurried to the back of the rocking chair and put her arms around Myrica's neck; half dangling and not quite a hug. "...when are you turning back to your male form?!" she asked impatiently with a spoiled tone.

"When I have an offspring." Myrica said as if she was bothered to have to say it again.

"Then let me help you find your Beast King...!" Cyrenn tried a childish smile.

Myrica didn't answer.

". . . I'm also a beast's child...!" Cyrenn tried pointing it out, "I'm the great-crow's human-child, remember?"

"So who hired you to target Odin?" Myrica asked levelly.

Cyrenn silenced again.

"Someone even more important to you than me?" Myrica tested.

"-the Diggers...!" Cyrenn tried with a sudden brightened-tone; "The Diggers were too greedy; they dug too deep into the grounds and let the poisonous fumes out massively... again-!"

"That's why you wanted them taken cared of...!" Cyrenn smiled nervously. "Yes, I just realized that's part of a Balancer's job... to balance the scales even if it was the war between your enemies-!"

"Who- was- it?" Myrica asked slowly.

Cyrenn lost her poor smile; ". . . . . . so they could destroy each other . . .-" she mumbled the explanatory words of her cut sentence with disheartened tone.

They paused again in heavy silence. Cyrenn finally gave up with the thought that she couldn't really deny this person's words; bending forward, she whispered into Myrica's ear.

Myrica's face turned alert with disbelief instantly. ". . . . . . which _King_?" she whispered carefully.

Cyrenn whispered again-

Myrica jerked up and straightened her body, staring passed her shoulder at the girl's face that was hidden by the cloak hood; the rocking chair creaked at her sharp movement. "-are you sure?" she asked flatly.

"I saw the painting of him in the Palace..." Cyrenn nodded once.

"-wait!" Myrica frowned in dislike; "He met you face to face when he hired you?!"

Cyrenn chewed her lower lip again nervously; ". . . the Dragontwig that should've taken me to flee landed before him just because he curled his finger to beckon it. That's the King of this Land, alright...!"

"-ummm... that's why I could enter the Palace Ward; because he allowed me to?" Cyrenn mulled at it; "He seemed like he was in a journey from somewhere... He carried the smell of the demons on him."

Myrica frowned deeper. "You talked to anyone about this?"

Cyrenn opened her mouth half-amused half-gaping; "-...there's only you." she admitted silently, almost finding the question funny.

Myrica nodded. "Hide for a while!" she ordered, and Cyrenn's cloaked figure backed away without another word, disappearing into the dark shadow again.

Closing her eyes after a few moments passed to check her surrounding, finding her solitude wasn't disturbed, Myrica relaxed again reclining to the rocking chair's back; then she allowed her mind to mull at the piece of info that suddenly thrown at her... such thing that was unlikely; but even the impossible things could turn up in a war-

But why would the King want to hurt Odin? -no; he meant to kill the oldman, right?  
>. . . . or, it's because he knew that Odin would survive such attack?<br>-but for what purpose?

Her brain connected the happenings in the pass days; some facts revealed themselves to the surface...

-in order to hold back the Palace demon?!  
>but why? Odin already had him in control; unless...<br>it was to render the demon unconscious...?  
>. . . so that Odin could do something else without the demon as a restraint or a burden...!<p>

So the King had his own agenda; just like she'd suspected. She wondered if General Kushrenada agreed wholeheartedly in the King's plans concerning the demon; but knowing that man, he'd do whatever his King ordered him to... even if it was killing his own heart. The problem now was that the King knew Cyrenn; if somehow he already connected that girl to her?

-no. Most probably he already knew who she was... or maybe she should refer to herself as 'he' in that context.

Myrica smiled and rocked the chair again; gently. The song from the phonograph in the building across the street sounded loud when she focused her ears to it; she mouthed the lyrics half-reflexively.

Perhaps it wasn't a problem, anyway; that the King knew about 'him' as the last survivor of 'his' clan. The-late General Kushrenada was so paranoid about the High Priestess, 'his' sister; so the Maxwells that were sent to annihilate 'his' clan thought that it was alright if it was the High Priestess' little brother left alive... They didn't know that 'his' clan's last surviving males had the aberration to change sex to females to produce offspring. 'He' had been running for 6 years until 10 years ago Odin found 'him' hiding in another clan's village and took 'him' to hide in the Covenant after destroying that village- ...or witnesses.

Have a Beast King to save her people from slavery and oppression and annihilations; or have offspring and rebuild her clan... A Beast King means fighting in another war; offspring means another life in escape. She hated it; her fighter's blood didn't choose to flee, it was the obligation of being the last survivor. Why Odin didn't have such feelings of obligation made her envious. -or perhaps he'd been doing exactly that since a long time ago, preserving the offspring... Queen Thenea's offspring. Because he wasn't a pureblood? -...what about Odin the Beast, then; to whose side would his inclination be? She hadn't suspected it; doubted it even, until she saw it with her own eyes... Odin's beast-side was so- ...domineering? Even with her tail out, she felt oppressed back then. Perhaps her ancestors feared Odin's clan; or his clan's Beast King...? Now that she thought about it; Odin being in Blessing-line meant that he had direct connection with his clan's High Priest. -Yes; what kind of Beast King would Odin choose? And being half-blooded, could he still have the right to choose his Beast King?

. . . if somehow he'd already chosen his Beast King and pledged his self to him; without acknowledgment from the Aurilatha because he wasn't a pureblood- ...someone powerful like in the Maxwells' bloodline? What then?

No.

That's not something she should worry about; the Maxwells are dead. The last one... was in her Blessing-line...

If she'd had Duo then she might not have to worry about the Palace's aggression; and together with the demon meant she probably could bargain with the Demon Kingdom too... that was her less bloody plan at first. If she really had no choice but to have an offspring so 'he' could return and fight, for the sake of the child too; then it'd be better to-

-no.

No.

No no nonono-!

She didn't want her child to have to fight, if the Palace knew about her child being existed, they'd hunt that child like an animal... probably use Odin to do it too! -Beast King first; annihilate all enemy... then her offspring could live peacefully -NOOOO!

CRAASH!  
>The round window exploded outward. Myrica held her head with both hands, clawing at her scalp.<p>

-No!  
>'He' was born with the duty to serve the Beast King... serve the Beast King with all 'his' might; even 'his' offspring should live for the Beast King's sakes; so, build a strong clan first,<br>-a beast army...  
>then find the Beast King-<p>

Myrica suddenly froze with a soft sigh. A deafening static rang in her ears; her mind didn't want to think anymore-

". . . . . . why?"

"Why did I have to live like this...?" she whispered to the cold air blowing from the broken window, her delirious smile plastered lifeless on her face with ghastly wide-stare in her eyes. The night had arrived, shrouding the sky with its gentle darkness; the festivities down the street had lighted themselves with lamps and lampions. One broken window stayed dark, hiding the secrets and veiled vengeance-

"...Sister... I can't live like this; what kind of ignominious life is this...?!"  
>-if only 'his' sister didn't beg the Maxwells to spare 'his' life...<br>-if only the Maxwells weren't the ones sent to annihilate 'his' clan...  
>-if only 'he' could get her sister to safety in time;<br>If only 'he' possessed enough power to do so-

...if only that-one Maxwell weren't there to finish it.  
>That one Maxwell with such a curse-!<p>

That Maxwell alone!  
>". . . <em>Lexiaferran Maxwell-Noventa<em> . . .-" Myrica whispered shakily; her eyes shone in the dark with vengeful light.

"-your only son..."

"-will be my child's...-"

Shliink.  
>-and the upper part of the bottle slid down from a diagonal cut by the neck, fell to the table and rolled to the floor with a broken sound; flowing its excess liquid out. Myrica leered savagely to the silhouette of the Palace visible from the broken window; snatched the decapitated bottle, and took a long swig. Hitting her back to the rocking chair's back and let it rocked rather roughly with its protesting creaks.<p>

A furry bony claw stopped the bottle when she was about to take another swig.

"If you let your emotions rule you that much; ...I won't be able to hide your presence in this King's City." A rasped male voice said levelly.

Myrica sighed and let that claw took the bottle from her. "-...sorry, Cama. I just need some balancing...!" She already regained her composedness again; sometimes in hardships, all it takes was to know that you're not alone.

Cama snickered from the darkness; "...the Balancer needs balancing?"

Myrica snickered too. "A Balancer who is not balanced is not worth it!"

"...if you have both child and King, you'd be balanced." Cama suggested.

"Hmmh; you really think so?" Myrica pouted a little, glancing behind her.

"All you have to do... is find a King who wanted children and would fight for them with all his might." Cama smiled slowly.

Myrica paused, narrowing her eyes to the Palace's silhouette; ". . . someone who's also making enemy with this Kingdom!"

"- yesss. . . that's how you balance these scales . . . " Cama breathed, sounding like _he_ disappeared to someplace unreal at the end.

* * *

><p>Vim walked on the rock-strewn mountain path with lampion-bell flowers clutched in his arms, lighting his way; his steps were light and silent, the beasts under the shadows of rocks and holes that happened to see him passing let him alone undisturbed.<p>

Arn'crad city's gates were of black stones, carved and fitted with magic; the purple specks of aura were blinking in it like stars, connected by strings of ever-changing flows of lights; a picturesque sight to the surroundings of the grim rocky-forest of gray and black. He knew the city gates wouldn't open to him, so he passed by the gates and walked through the high bushes for about half an hour, finding a rundown runnel that wasn't guarded with magic; the beasts used it as nesting ground, so they kept breaking the ward with their natural influence -as some types of beasts could negate magical energy. The scholars of Arn'crad didn't see that runnel as a breach in their city wall since they put a sealed-ground at the inner end of it that was automatically teleporting any passing life-form to a spot deep in the mountain; some of them were so confident in their control over that field that they saw it as a game.

One thing that marked one's fall was when they're too confident in their ability and started to overlook things they should be concerned of, his grandmother said; Vim scurried through the runnel with a small smile tugged his lips. The beasts inside the channel didn't react to his existence and he passed them as if he owned that ground.

A flock of small insects were fighting off a scythed-scorpion at the end of the runnel, pushing the much bigger beast towards the sealed-ground, knowing the scorpion would soon disappear; teleported to somewhere far from their nesting spots. Even the beasts there learned to take advantage of that seal.

Not a minute later there was a long flashing sound as the seal activated and the unsuspecting scythed-scorpion was no more; the small insects screeched their victory for a moment and returned to their nests to guard their eggs and larva, flooding the ground like a small wave. Vim smiled wider as the insects passed him, giggled a little when he felt their small pointy feet on his body like a short-lived rain. With mischievous lights shone in his eyes he hurried onto the seal and laughed when the ground shone accompanied with the flashing sound, the white light bursting from the seal felt like misty-feathers caressing his skin and he loved the feeling.

The seal deactivated after a few seconds, leaving him on its ground as if it was the natural thing to be; and he scurried into the city, bouncing with a hum as he felt lighter with the energy he'd absorbed from that seal. The scenery greeted him was of rundown ruins that were once part of a castle before this Kingdom took domination of that city from its rulers; that was over 500 years ago. The citizens left the ruins untouched, fearing the curse of the dead rulers and their unborn descendants. His agile feet sprang between blackened stones and broken debris, already remembered the scape like the lines on his own palms.

He climbed to a higher ground and looked down towards the Arn'crad Towers from a cliff, shining with magical aura as the city's light-source. Flickering lights snaked their way to the Towers' main gates in the dark; he narrowed his eyes knowing they were people seeking for treatment from the scholars. There were no more light in the buildings around the Towers; fire had long deserted that murky city, so every building faced Arn'crad Academy for light. Several floating spheres-of-dim-lights traveled lazily above the city, surrounding the Towers. They were some higher-ups' residences, maintained with magical energy.

In this town, you either be magic-users or anyone rich enough to buy magical energy to live. He hated that last part-; magical energy was no one's... supposedly. His grandmother never asked for anything in return when she shared hers. Arneliria and Cradens had taught magic indiscriminately in the Old Wisdom Age...! So why did their scholars charge the _whole_ city for their magic?!

Snorted his derision, Vim turned around and continued to the garden ground of that castle ruins; there were still standing statues of great magicians with various damages on them, guarding the stone path to a consecrated fountain. Its spring had dried now, but in specific time in a year there was a small puddle of water in a nook under the base of the broken statue in the middle, collected from the dripping dew of the moist ground. He dipped each end of the lampion-bell flower's stem, smiling yearningly at how the bells shone brighter; their pollens released as specks of lights and floated around the flowers' semi-transparent crowns.

When he closed his eyes, he could hear the flowers hummed their serene songs, like lullabies. His smile bloomed wider, a touch of life colored his pale face...

". . . I love you too, Grand-mama...-" he whispered and knelt, sticking the flower stems around the broken statue; then sat cross-legged on the cracked floor of the dry fountain pool, looking up at the moon as the pollens' lights spiraled up to the sky.

A shadow approached him from behind soundlessly; the boy didn't move, not wanting to break the magical feeling whispered in the air yet.

The shadow stared him for some time, and eventually gave a deep bow to the broken fountain statue; and only then Vim let his smile fall as a way to acknowledge the company standing behind him.

". . . you were expecting to find a headstone, yes?" his wide green eyes followed the trails of the last pollens lights traveling up before the silver moon hid them with its light.

"I was hoping to _not_ find you here." The company said.

Vim's brows twitched a little; "...-_me_?!" he pulled one end of his lips in a mocking smile.

"Apparently my-cat was fond of you." The answer was level but sounded haughty at the same time.

Vim turned his upper body a little, staring at the hooded man standing behind him with a cold heat in his bright green eyes which his small round glasses couldn't hide; but he didn't say anything in reaction to the words thrown at him. He stared back at the dim shining flower bells in silence, pretending he was alone; or just shutting off his surrounding and company.

"Why am I here?" the man asked flatly. He was ignored for a long time.

Sighing out, knowing that the boy would keep ignoring him without the right subject, the man said his bait; "You're disrupting the hierarchy of the positions in the government...-"

"-a man of your caliber should be able to take advantage of that." Vim said fast coldly.

"And you've killed how many officials 'till now...?" the man asked conversationally.

"I was just putting out some unnecessary candles...-" the boy said stubbornly.

"By candles you mean human lives-"

"-Those flickering lights snaking their ways to the Tower's Gate... did you think those were lampions or torches?!" Vim looked behind again with a meaningful frown, his sharp eyes stared shakily.

The man countered the boy's stare levelly from under the shade of his hood, knowing those wide eyes held wrath and tears he'd so stubbornly not wanting to show outside. When the boy pulled his face from his direction, the man looked up at the enormous full moon staring them with its cold light. The-cat tightened the loops of _his_ tails around the man's shoulders. "If I could, I'd buy life for that one-person with my own life... Just knowing that there's a mean, or technicians who'd do so, made me able to close my eyes to sleep every night."

Vim took a long pause before reacting to those words.

"...A man of your standing could buy as however-long a life as however-much a wealth you could afford for your King! ...General Treize Kushrenada!" he added the last part as if a greeting. "You don't really need to buy it with your own life, right?!" Vim snorted cynically, a touch of irony in his tone, a brush of sadness. "And for the exchange of your position, I bet the old-geeks there would give a whole thousand years to live for your King... -although they might not uphold him as king anymore..." the last part was mumbled to almost being inaudible.

The silver round moon was the grandest gravestone in the scenery; the man looked sadly at the scenery of the ruins that ironically fit perfectly with its beauty. "Who did it the first time? Arneliria...?"

"...there was a farmer with his bleeding daughter dying in his arms came for help, one day..." Vim almost mumbled; "Arneli said he could give his unused-lifespan to lengthen hers, he said he'd do anything to save her..." There was a nervous pause, the boy gripped his hands and twisted them to control his rage.

"-BUT THAT WAS A METAPHOR...!" Vim gritted his teeth; "Arneli never did that in reality! She just wanted to hear that man's truth...-!"

The heat was short-lived as tears started to wet the dry cracked ground. ". . . -how could they... How could they do _that_ for money?! They even steal lives from the inferiors! They're worse than evils...!" -a hic up, "-and they blamed Arneli as hypocrite! THEY'RE THE DISSEMBLERS AND THEY KILLED GRAND-MAMA!". A gritted pause-

". . . they killed your Grandmother?" Treize asked.

A wet sniffle. The boy wiped his tears with the back of his hands; "She died of broken heart-! ...how could she not...?"

"For what has become of this city? ...or of Arn'crad? -or of the legacy of her ancestors?" Treize asked still conversationally.

The boy snickered cynically; "-... or all of the above, right? Yes, sure...!"

Treize gloomed at the sarcastic answer, he knew the Scholars of Arn'crad didn't really oppose his King, especially the seniors; that's why he hadn't really looked behind this city's gates. And besides,...

"-your King told you to leave Arn'crad alone, yes?"

The apathetic question caught Treize in the middle of his thought; he didn't want to discuss about his King with a stranger.

"How did you pass the Palace Ward's sift?" Treize asked almost reflexively; the number of intruders that could pass the Ward in one way or another the past days had genuinely concerned him.

Vim glanced behind for a moment, knowing that the General had shifted the subject but he didn't mind it. ". . . I don't remember." He mumbled.

"How could you not remember-"

"That's how I do it!" the boy stared behind with sharp eyes, somewhat looking insulted that the man thought he was trying to lie. "I don't have to lie about things that I don't remember...!" he pressed.

Treize blinked as the whole thing clicked; "...you erased your memory before entering the Ward!" he frowned. And it was as simple as that to deceive that damn Palace Ward-

Vim snickered, "Yes, it's that simple, General..."

"The Great Judge..." the boy tried, staring with dimmed eyes at the dulling lights of the bell flowers; "...he bought a whole lifespan to prolong his own fading light. His should end in another year before he bought the extra... and since he had a terminal illness, the scholars said he should use a still pure life-force...-"

The sudden silence choked Treize's mind; he knew where those words were leading to. "You knew the owner of the life they-?"

"_KNEW_ THEM?!" Vim stood up and snapped with agonized wrath on his face; "GRAND-MAMA RAISED _**US**_ TOGETHER! -DID _**I**_ KNOW THEM...-?!" He gritted his teeth, letting tears flowed freely from his wide wild-eyes. "People sell lives in this town! If not their own, they sell their family's life to live! -some lifespan worth another-year-or-two every year for some provisions they couldn't enjoy with aching conscience; until their lives run out...!"

"AND EVEN IF THINGS GOT TO THAT POINT AND THEY'D STILL WANT TO LIVE... THEY'D KIDNAP OTHERS TO BE SOLD!"

He paused to catch some hard breaths; ". . . . . . Grand-mama took in abandoned children...!" Vim said with shaky voice; "...sickly, imperfect children that wouldn't sell and would just be burdens if let live, children of whose parents didn't have the cruelty to kill with their own hands...! Grand-mama raised _all of us_ here on these very ruins!" he said with aching tone.

"-. . . the soldiers raided this ground and hunted us down like animals...!" and ended with a silent shaky whisper. ". . . . . . did I _know_ the owners...-?" he asked sarcastically to himself, turning to face the broken statue and kneeled in front of the dying lights of the bell flowers.

Treize was taken aback by the outburst; the raw sadness and the sense of losing; and mostly by the facts slapped at his face about things he'd always turned a blind eye to in all these years.

There was more than twenty lampion-bell flowers stuck on the ground around the statue, it must have been quite a hunt when it happened. ". . . . . . those lights were-" he finally understood the boy's action ignoring him and looking serene at the spiraling away pollens just a moment ago; he was sending away the children's lives he managed to take back from the people who robbed them.

-and eventhough his mind had pointed to him what a grand gravestone the moon was that night... he didn't think that...-

"I'm sorry...!" Treize said genuinely, sliding his hood back with a hand.

"Not needed. Take your sorry back to your Palace and live peacefully knowing that there's a way to buy life for your K-!" the cold retort was stopped short when he felt Treize's hand on his shoulder; it was shaky with remorse and guilt, and the boy almost felt sorry for letting him know in such a way. He sensed the-cat's presence tailing him halve the trek back, and had let them on it since he knew the General would ask him of his reasons; he'd wanted to punish someone who still had the conscience to feel the guilt of what had befallen to his loved ones...

"...I should've looked at this city years ago! -I have no excuse..."

The boy put his smaller hand on Treize's hand and pulled it sliding down from his shoulder almost gently, intending for the man to stop his words. Since it's no use now... his loved ones were already gone; even if he could retrieve their lives, their bodies had rot under that ground. They wouldn't need anyone's compassion or regrets now; that's why the man's sorry was not needed.

Vim stood up again, facing the crying General on his knees behind him; his boyish face was devoid of emotion, staring at the man's face for a long time. He never thought that the notorious cold-hearted General would shed his tears easily... or it was just him seeing the man with prejudice since the beginning, eventhough he knew that Treize was not one of those unnecessary candles.

The bell flowers' lights died out one after another behind him; he felt it tugging on his existence, and knowing what would happen after that... the boy bent forward and whispered into Treize's ear-

"General... this city is a trap designed specifically to confine _you_...!" and the boy disappeared after giving a sad smile at the same time as the last bell flower's light died out.

And Treize didn't even have the time to think whether that boy was real or just some apparition, as the moon suddenly blocked by darkness and the ground disappeared from under his knees.

-and his King had told him to overlook this city.

* * *

><p>Duo decided he'd had enough waiting.<p>

Counting the Lieutenant's breaths in the adjacent room, he made sure the man was deeply asleep before he tip toed to his window. After this his paranoid cousin will surely bar the windows, he thought to himself, but he was determined to do it tonight; especially when his awareness told him that Treize was not in the Palace when he brushed the area before he got to bed some hours ago.

". . . sorry, Treize." He mumbled as he opened the window trying to make it without a sound; slung his bag of charms across his shoulder -just in case Heero needed some to help him recuperate, although he doubted it himself-, and jumped off the window into the cool night air. He'd jumped from the fifth terrace dodging Heero's attack back then, and had landed unscathed; and Treize thought a third-floor's height could stop him from jumping out the window?

-_hahahahahahaaa...too bad, Treize; you've underestimated my trouble-seeker nature, you know?_ Oh, how he'd wanted to say that with a smug grin to his cousin's face; but reality wasn't always on his side, right? Or should he rephrase that to _**never**__ on his side_...?

"-...dammit, Treize; you want me to commit suicide, or what?!" he breathed as he held onto the rough nature-worn blocks of stone wall with the crag under it billowing with strong winds from its depth as if trying to peel him from the said wall down. The black gaping earth down there marked the missing of the spring Cail told him back then when they were going into the Factory; the castle was supposedly built beside a mountain lake a long time ago. A _verrry_ long time ago...

_Okay, so Treize put into mind about the fact that he could jump from the terrace of the fifth floor and landed unscathed; but this is too much of a precaution, right?!_ His mind protested as he realized with a forming bile in his mouth that the sleek mossy layer of the stone wall made him unable to climb up, so he was forced to climb down and he'd now passed the ground level of the Palace... He'd forgotten about thinking of a way to be back up; finding an opening back into the building was more important at this point.

The size of the stone wall's blocks told him that he was outside the apparently dungeon part of the the castle; he doubted he'd fine a window at this area, so he was tinkering whether it'd be alright if he made an emergency entrance...while not knowing the structure of the wall and the floor-map inside. _But even underground prison cells should have at least a barred lee-way for circulating air, shouldn't it? ...or not?_ With a sigh he tried to make his mind stop thinking and just concentrated to find a way in.

And as karma was on his side, just as he thought he'd found a dark hole wide enough for him to enter, a flock of frightened bats flew out and made him lost his handhold. Duo widened his eyes in horror as his body plunged into the depth and he could only flailed his hands trying to hold onto anything that his panicked hands could find.

To his relief, the journey down was short... too short, in fact; he blinked still wide-eyed at a pair of golden round eyes blinking back at him with a mouthful of bats in a long muzzle.

"-hh. . . . . . -hello...!" Duo tried a stiff grin.

Lix blinked again at the human hanging from his half-curled tail that was emanating a weird but also a faint familiar smell. These walls and rockery was its hunting ground; it'd found many things there from casted away 'secrets' -since some Palace people used that part of the castle as their favorite body-dump site, to fleeing beasts and failed assassins and forgotten treasure. But never a human-boy, before, that was still lively kicking and grinning.

Duo cleared his throat awkwardly; somehow knowing that the giant lizard was assessing his value in a way that was close to underrating him. "-could you please... show me a way to get back up- I mean, inside?" Duo tried conversationally. He didn't see it clearly that first time he saw Heero's back on his notable ride, but he was sure this was the same lizard the demon was riding judging from the collar around its neck... because it was made from the same clear-milky-starry substance as the wing-wires... -now that he thought of it, he remembered that those wings were still in his possession, along with the fur-hat in his bag; he'd wanted to return them to Heero when he asked Odin that day. -Yes, well; using them as an excuse to find a chance with Heero, to be exact -that might have been the reason he'd found himself on the wrong side of Odin's mood. Apparently, that fur-hat was something custom-made for Heero; and who else could have made it for the demon but his owner?

But he justified that he had genuinely forgotten to return them to Heero when they'd arrived at the Palace; what with the beast-chase and all.

"-uhhh... I'm Duo, by the way. Nice timing meeting you...!" Duo tried as the lizard didn't seem to react to his words except for blinking and staring. "-hahahahahahaa..." and so he added a friendly chuckle. This was getting waaay more awkward than having Treize found him hanging on his windowsill, figuratively speaking-

Lix snorted once and swallowed the mouthful bats without even chewing them.

'Kreeee...?'  
>Lix turned its upper body and curled almost a full circle in its effort to inspect the hanging human boy; sniffing at him several times and gave him a good long snort, it made sure the human boy knew that it didn't like being in contact with humans... although Lix didn't hate it, either. Speculating the boy's scent and recognized a strong smell of the General's and a slight smell of its rider along with a strange cold-dark smell dominating his air, Lix thought it should just dump the human boy somewhere out of everyone's sight.<p>

". . . uhh... some place from where I could go back inside, would be preferable, thank-you...!" Duo blinked and smiled; recognizing the thought formed through the lizard's eyes... they were eerily too human-like in terms of intelligence, Duo thought.

Lix snorted as it turned its head, but complied; either way, it had intended to dump the boy in that one place, so it started to climb _down_.

Duo tried not to protest about the way they headed nor to make too much sounds every time the lizard jumped agilely from rock to rock, noticing the scythe-parts on its front legs cut through the stones like it was butter; at first he thought he was reminded of how bats clawed at the cave surface to climb, but then he thought it had more resemblance to a praying mantis; -or maybe a batish-mantis...? He snickered, it was a weird rhyme.

Lix tsk-ed its lizard-che once, curling its tail up to stare at the human-boy's eyes to warn him about making jokes of a Sauria, especially when his life was dangling on its tail.

Duo blinked several times at the narrowed golden eyes; "...I didn't say that out loud!" he reasoned.

The lizard snorted at his face and continued with a faster pace; Duo could swear he heard the lizard gave a mocking grumble to itself.

"Well, sorry -your rider wasn't as talkative as you, you know? Eventhough I'd prefer him to be more..."

An angry lizard's snarl opening its crests made Duo stopped with a bland face; "I didn't mean to hurt him, if that's you're angry at me about...!"

'GWAAAAACKK!'  
>And Lix added some more series of lizard-style of grousing...<p>

"Although I did. I'm sorry." Duo said with a flat tone. The lizard stopped making angry clucks and continued in silence, Duo knew it wanted to get rid of him as fast as it could and he stopped trying to chat with it.

The rocky terrain under the castle was deep enough to become an uncharted territory, he realized that the lake or whatever it was when it was still submerge was connected to the gaping line of what once called a spring that Cail told him near the Factory. He could picture a massive lake on top of a mountain with a deep canal of a river flowing down its slope... and the humans built a _tiny_ castle at the edge of that lake on the mountain's top... and they lived in prosperity until they drained all the water... -he pictured it was a breathtakingly beautiful scene before that happened.

A small half-round shape caught his eyes between the jutting pointy rock formations, built into the wall of the jagged rock deep enough down the dried lake to hide itself from the humans' eyes; he felt nauseous when his mind pointed out of nowhere that the building was connected to the Maxwells. And as if feeling his realization, the lizard tossed him into the ruined building and left without a care.

Duo didn't mind that, he mumbled a late thank-you to the lizard, distracted by the resonance of that place as it tried to make connection to his mind.

It looked like half a dome, with walls made of glass or crystal tiles; they're no more... perhaps shattered when something destroyed that place -somehow his mind pictured a major incident happened when he looked up at the dome's metal ribs, noticing how the thick structures shriveled and chipped and half melted on the majority of their surfaces. Something inhuman did that...! But he knew he'd found the Maxwells' headquarter... or what was left of it. Although it felt too easy on the other side...

...too easy, or was it what meant to be...?

Like he was walking on a path of someone's design...? The deceased Maxwells' design?

"-...welcome home..." a whisper-like croak greeted him from the darkness of the dome part that was inside the cliff wall. "-...this is the House of Maxwells, ...Last Master...!"

Duo felt an unbearable chill down his spine at that sound -that was not quite a voice; and almost choked on his own tongue at the title used to call him. He didn't feel any respect or loyalty in that sound, it was pure hatred instead.

Four squinted lights shone in the darkness, moving in imbalanced movement towards him; and his every nerve in his body screamed for him to run-

* * *

><p>Odin cleared his throat before reporting himself, standing in front of the grand double-doors with his frown intact.<p>

"It's Odin."

The double-doors opened by themselves and closed after he entered. A breeze greeted him and he deepened his frown when he noted the person who summoned him was sitting leisurely on the fence of the balcony wearing only night attire.

"Someone could target-" Odin's words cut mid-sentence at the hand cued him to stop. An aristocratic smile bloomed at him. "You summoned me, Master?" Odin nodded his greeting slowly.

Light chuckles. "I enjoy the view of the Palace Court, now..."

Odin silenced for some time, and decided to follow the conversation trail. "...Sanctuary-trees...!" he praised, "Beautiful and not-deadly."

"Not for the dead..." the Master countered.

"Actually, they made the dead live again, Master... It's like recycling." Odin said slowly.

More chuckles. "Trees do that, don't they...?"

"What do you want of me, Master?" Odin asked straightforwardly.

"Hmff... don't be that cautious of me now, Odin...!" the Master almost laughed, his eyes shone under the moonlight.

Odin smirked stiffly; "...I've stopped calling you Little Master; I should be cautious of you, Master."

The Master's face lost its smile for a moment. "Did Treize tell you what I told him to tell you?"

"...not quite...-" Odin's voice was almost a grumble.

The Master chuckled again; "He didn't, but you could read it in his uneasiness, yes? ...he didn't realize he's that transparent when he lost his composure, that Treize...!"

"I suspect you gave him orders that shattered his beliefs, Master?"

The Master stared back into Odin's not-so-friendly eyes. "I told him to abandon the Peace-Contract."

Odin paused for a long time, assessing the Master's self; he found that the young man meant his every word but still carried himself with gentle grace that he didn't sense any ill-will in him.

"...that's an order?" Odin asked flatly but calmly.

"Yes." The simple answer didn't need excuses in its candor.

"...-that's it?"

"Oh... and I want you to kill Treize."

Odin narrowed his eyes at how lightly it was spoken. "...why?" he tested.

"Because I need him dead, Odin." The words were in matter-of-factly tone but also sounded conversationally light.

"You need a sacrifice? ...now?" Odin frowned in dislike. "After ten years?"

"Ah, so you mind it more about abandoning Heero than of killing Treize...!" it was said in light astonishment, with an I-thought-so implied.

Odin gritted his teeth, suppressing a growl; "May I ask, why?" he asked formally. The Master knew Odin's behavioral pattern and that if he didn't give a satisfactory or reasonable enough of an answer, Odin would make a good-bye formal speech then and there. Funny how that man could give an ultimatum without needing to say it...

"There was never a Contract in the first place, Odin. Not with the Demon Kingdom." The Master turned his head to see the moon; "...Heero is not a demon."

The breeze played with his long blond hair, and he flicked his head a little to cast aside a lock that managed to tease at his smiling lips, all in a fluid motion to face Odin again.

"I went to confirm that myself...!"

-there was a shade of sadness in the Master's eyes, which his smile didn't reach; and Odin knew that The King was serious in all honesty.

x - - - - - - - - x  
>x - - - - - - - - x<p>

_woahhh...this chapter is long overdue, hu? Saru didn't touch anything fic-related for months, really_

_Losing 1 terabyte of data sucks big time, you know...?  
>-saru is still crying in the corner- <em>**TT"."TT**

_(add to the pain was that it happened JUST as oni-tan turned the computer on to BACK-UP them too... that it just turned out dead...that the service-man couldn't even fathom what was wrong with the harddisk...that he said he'd never found this-kind of case before...that he just suggested to just format it and reinstall the windows...that what we could do was only having jaw-drops...that saru had no back-up of the other fics and the novel-in-proggress saru thought to just typed out of the blue...that the reference data we collected for 3 years gone in a blink of a computer screen...that the royalty-payment for our reprinted comic-book had yet to be paid...that our emergency CPU always BSOD-ing itself when we're working or just watching our favorite tsundere human-eater Honeyball...-huh, what?)_

**Anyway, thanx for reading**; sorry for being verrrry late to upload this chapter.


	24. Chapter 24

**Another -****7 may**** '1****4**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: saru __having a pair of bad teeth aching in need to be removed immediately...__ '; __-oh, about this chapter, you'll find some controversial issues written; if you don't like them, just pretend you didn't read them, 'kay? (in Indonesian proverb, this is similar to "_throwing stones, hide_ (the) _hand_ (which did it)"...)_

**chapter 2****4**

_-__We want to sully them, so we sullied ourselves_-

Odin sat on the chair heavily, the fluffy cushion made a dull noise at his weight, and the wood protested with creaking sounds.

-he wouldn't care if the chair had given up standing; he needed some slap on the face to feel that he was awake at the moment... a slap of pain on his butt would also welcomed if the Fates decided to give him one then and there-

Heero's sleeping face was blissfully oblivious-

The new bed Treize had arranged there was pretty decorated wooden bed with curtains tailored with tufts and tassels; something fitting to be Palace-y, in short. It was too luxurious in his spartan chamber... but obviously the General still minded that he had to witness the naked demon's body draped on top of him in such a way.

"-...I wouldn't bother to use the drapes to cover my sleep, you stupid General...!" Odin growled acidly to the night breeze blowing from the absent wall; if anything, the bed drapes would hinder him to access his surrounding when he had the demon lying dead-like on his bed prone to attackers and such. If something the matter, then he'd say that some dirty minds would need to have drapes to cover themselves from showing forth!

And just as suddenly as the Lesard made a wall-wide 'window' to his room, the world he knew turned up-side down... -he'd thought about the same thing when he read that book, right? That sense of déjà vu was not even laughable anymore; it wasn't even interesting to begin with... something like 'karma' was supposed to be written on that-cursed book's cover as its title; 'read; and taste it' should be written under it as the sub-title.

But blaming it didn't do any good, either... he wondered if that First-Maxwell who'd written that book actually placed a curse to anyone who read it to be 'someone who begin something'; like a person who carried some illness before spreading it to the whole world, or something even more gruesome than just plague. Thinking about it, it must be the Maxwells' revenge, right? They were forced to live so bitterly that the word cruelty would've lost its meaning when applied to their life-stories; and now their bitterness had started taking shape? -come to think of it; there was someone in the Maxwells with a name similar to that, wasn't there?-

And what was their suffering for...? In the name of humanity; -the humans who forced them to do inhuman things, and treated them inhumanely from even before they're born until they're dead. That they even had to take their own deaths into their hands to end it all; what kind of hatred would they have? What could sate their hatred if there were such thing lurking in this reality...?

...if possible that all their hatred had meant to be inherited, accumulated and pinpointed into one's vengeance? Just like that part of the book said-

_And __**I**__ -feel content in the possibility of a future where there is only one me standing before their Last _

-then, wouldn't that mean that Duo Maxwell was the sole carrier of all that hatred...?

_...so we can start over this cycle;  
>and <em>_**I**__ -will rise with a new name, or nameless, even_

-a new name; an identity... the freedom that all the dead Maxwells were denied to have, the one thing Treize had given to Duo, that label of being a 'human'.

And what was that line nearing the closure...-?

_Let it be my End._

Supposedly, if all this was the making of that book at its cycle; than, wouldn't that mean that 'their Last' was already here? It's said 'only one me standing before their Last', right...?

". . . . . . is it talking about you...?" Odin stretched his right hand to brush aside a lock of brown hair played by the gentle breeze teasing the long eyelashes; the demon didn't react even when Odin's fingers traced the outline of his face from his temple to the closed lips-

_...__something that were__ beautiful and untainted;__ unchanging... and called demons- _"...if I ask you what you are, would you even bothered to think of answering, ...Heero?"

The now only two pair of wings laid limply on the soft pillow at the sides of the fair face; half opened, showing the underside of them, the layers of inner feathers; the long soft tufts at his sideburns, gently played by the breeze teasing his pointy ears they were supposed to hide... it seemed vulgar in its bizarreness, like the scene of a demon surrendering his body to whomever had the right to claim it. But why was that? They're just wings... just small wings of some nature's decoration that were not meant to fly; it's the same as the extravagant peacock's tail, or the tusks of an elephant. They may have purposes in their respective existence, as nature allowed them to be...

-but it's just these small wings differentiate the whole world from this boy, whom he grew to care more than his own life, with his world, -the world which he had no means to ignore.

_they carry the worlds on their wings_

"...what world do you carry on yours... can't you tell me, Heero? Is it this world? Is it the world after this world...?" Odin whispered mostly to himself, wishing he could just warp himself to a future where he could just live in an outcome-world where he didn't have a say or obligation to do anything to be a part of it. The red lines circling the lithe neck staring at him boldly, questioning his determination... that value that the demon saw in him the first time they met -or whatever it was the demon thought he had inside that made the demon surrender his-being into his hands -literally; he pulled the thick blanket to cover them in haste...

Abandoning the demon now would be as easily as chopping off his hands in one swift swing of a sword's blade; cold and sharp and cruel... and obedient to its wielder-

-just as he was supposed to be obedient to the King for whatever he was ordered to... only to Thenea's King she made him swear to protect far before that King was born.

Only this one King... -after the end of the King's reign, he'd be freed from the Palace.

"Thenea... you're cruel...!" Odin slumped on the bed, propping his weight on his elbows, head down trying to hide behind his clenched hands; "...your family is full of traps I couldn't get free of...!" -for once his battle hardened face was contorted in pain and sadness; a sheen of betrayal wet his eyes. He was half human, and the Palace seemed to never care about that; all he was needed for was to do inhuman things in the name of the Kingdom.

-...and they called it righteous.

* * *

><p>"Please come in... -Oh, please, please do...!" a sudden rush of excitement made the croak high pitched into a squeak. "Come in, Last Master...-Come in -come in!" a series of hard jingles and clattering noises followed the heavy dragging sound nearing where Duo stood unmoving. His mind had wanted to flee, but his legs had decided to actually move closer to that invitation; they were almost dragging themselves on the ragged floor he could hear the scraping sounds they made that made him wondered whether the soles of his shoes were that coarse to begin with.<p>

The four squinting lights blinked rapidly in impatience, nodding ever excitedly in invitation, urging him to move faster towards them; -with a sinking feeling Duo's mind realized that whoever -or whatever it was, the owner of that croak-that-was-not-quite-a-voice; was not able to move closer to where he was because it was restrained... the heavy clanking and jangling sounds were also croaking in its worth, as if they were in worse condition than just being rusty; some grating noises sounded like of stones instead of metals... as lazily audible as a dying man's growl.

A shiver ran up and down his spine; getting stronger and dreaded him in fear as he began to realize that his limbs were shaking rapidly -and yet they kept dragging him forward towards the darkness. The tangy smell of rust and the dry cold air didn't help his other senses either; somehow he could still smell the fishy scent of blood and bits and leftovers of what was once bodies scattered on the floor... although that was impossible; -or so he tried to assure his own mind. The jagged floor were covered by dried things he didn't have the nerve to see whether they were what his mind pictured or something else; but he doubted that they were dried twigs and branches.

At some point it was impossible for his shaking legs to keep dragging themselves with the amount of obstacles spread on the floor; Duo took a shaky deep breath before thinking to risk it assessing his escape route-

"...-please move in a little closer, Last Master..." the raspy sound beat his chance, "...there's something that belongs only for you to see... insi- -de...!" the last word somehow lost its animosity and also its breath and almost sounded like it was anticipating a relief.

Duo blinked and tried focusing his mind; the shiver made his skin tingling, washed with a wave of hot-and-cold sensation, but he didn't dare to show his trembling that close to those squinting and blinking lights. His eyes could make out a lighter shade of color in the darkness, spread about one and a half of his body width, at around his chest's height. With a rising nervousness he realized he was staring at a leer with exposed whole-line of teeth. A large bulk behind was overshadowing what was supposed to be the head, some jagged pointy structures jutting from it as if they were scattered dorsal bones; some arching smaller appendages curved unevenly at the bulk's sides, like spider legs.

Several droopy lines of restraints tied on the jutting structures to some places around the bulk's large mass, perhaps to the dome's structures; it reminded Duo of the ropes of a circus' tent, with lampions and accessories dangling from them... only this was the gruesome image of its resemblance, as his mind eventually allowed what his eyes that could see in total darkness sent to his brain to be processed. That those weren't tent ropes but rusty chains, and the things hanging alongside their length were mosses thick and long enough to drape down to the floor, covering bits of bodies that had dried into pale branches stuck on the links. The bulk was formed from sagging masses of lumpy chafed and cracked skins, like it was melting to the point where those masses became like appendages... or maybe there were no bones inside that bulge of body except for the skull... -the crushed grotesque looking skull covered tightly by thin and torn leftover of dried skin, showing the grey and dusty bones on some places; and that line of teeth was not just a set, but several uneven-shaped sets of teeth piling on top of another protruding from the jaws formed like ragged saws and blooming fangs and tusks covering over half of its face, as if they'd broken their ways out from the inside and completely tore away at the flesh. Two uneven dent covered with wrinkled dried skin marked the missing eyes; instead, there were four spider-eyes planted on its forehead, with no eyelids; the tight slits half-hiding those gleaming eyes seemed like they were made by cutting at the skin with a sharp object.

As Duo's feet pulled nearer in by the sight of horror he was witnessing, he could see the metal restraint around what was supposed to be its neck area, almost completely covered by the sagging lumps if not for the spikes jutting out from between the folds. And that now he could see that those arching spider-legs-like were actually chunky ribs, protruding from the blob of body that had bloated beyond proportion looking like a horrendous torn-spider... And those structures at its back, they were not bones or spikes as he thought they were... -they were large pieces of jagged planks made from some kind of layered mineral-stones; or just part of some walls, perhaps; with glittering lines in beautiful patterns... something like spell binds, breathtaking as the glitters twinkled in succession tracing the lines on the surfaces as if they were alive-

Duo held his breath at the putrid air, staring at those beautiful planks; a little of it reminded him of Heero's wire-wings, only difference was that the mineral-stones were of dark half-translucent material instead of clear-and-milky. Zapping noises sometimes heard when the tracing twinkles collided with each others, and the heavy chains rattled in pained jerks. Duo was almost amazed at the cruelty of how they were used, stabbing the dried blob to the ground... but a wash of self-satisfaction cooled down his fear that he almost smiled at himself, -or at the nasty sight.

A series of coughing-grating gurgle reached his ears and made him frown a little; he shifted his eyes at the grotesque face in front of him... he realized that huge melted mass was laughing; a deeper part of his heart felt a twinge at the realization that the thing was once a man, a human-being.

"-waited! -I waited you for eternity! ...-I did! I did!" the gurgling croak said in euphoria. "Go on, then! -Go on and see...!"

Duo narrowed his eyes apathetically at the encouragement. "Who are you...?"

The gaping jaws with lines of teeth that were impossible to be closed hissed, exhaling vile foggy breath at Duo's direction, but at some distance the fog came back to the source and started corroding the sagging skin. The-thing was screeching in agony, rattling the droopy chains and managed to make some dried bits that stuck on the links fell to the floor; it hissed and snarled at Duo's face in pure hatred but everything coming out of its mass kept turning back and hurt itself.

"...what did you do?" Duo asked uneventfully when the-thing seemed to have given up trying to attack him.

The slumped mass wasn't moving; ragged croaky breath heard painfully filling the silence for a long pause... the grotesque head hung limply on its restraint, the gaping jaws dripping slime that melted the appendage-looking blobs under its mass piling on the floor... but it was as if the-thing had surrendered to the pain as the slime corroding its parts with hissing sound.

"...-I... killed... a little girrrrrrl..." the breathy croak said in remorse, must be because it blamed itself for getting such fate by its own deed; "...-I killed... that cursed-Maxwell's little sisssst'rrrr...!" the pained tone hinted with accusation.

Suddenly flashes of lightning shot out from the mineral planks to each other, burning the already dried flesh with sparks; and the-thing screech again in agony... longer, deeper agony that's destroying the mass from inside; a burst of slimy-explosion, and Duo saw how the ribs burst out tearing the body like a freed catapult's hand, throwing bits and other stuffs as they lodged on the already covered chains. Those stone-grating sounds he heard before were coming from the sticking out bones that scraped at the floor or at each other, he realized; but somehow he didn't care at all.

Duo waited for some time until he was sure the-thing had passed its agony enough to hear him. "...so what was meant for only me to see?"

The dried mass was wrinkled on itself with cracking sounds, it reminded Duo of a caterpillar trying to curl up. It stayed silenced as it tried to painfully breathe, just as Duo thought he wouldn't get the answer and should just looked around on his own, came the dying-like whisper; ". . . . . . behindmeee- . . ."

Duo blinked several times at the timing; not that he cared about getting the answer now that he knew that something that gave him the creeps before was just a tormented ex-human in restraints. He started walking on the dried bits; they were leftovers of some massacre a very long time ago, and once he passed the disgusted feeling he had, those were nothing he should care for. Maneuvering his body so as to not get in contact with the draping mosses and bits and dripping slime from the droopy chains, he got passed the-thing's body and stopped when he realized a pillar of black crystal waited for him behind the-thing.

So, while cruelly tormenting the-thing, the one who punished it made it as that crystal's guardian... –suddenly the surrounding washed by white light, making Duo had to cover his eyes with his hands; and as he felt his body weightless and warm, he opened his eyes; half afraid at the light as he always did, and in perplex found himself floating in a shining white world with nothing but light in it. And the black crystal was floating vertically in front of him; it had pointy ends and flat almost random-sided surfaces, and they didn't reflect the over-abundant light at all. It's almost like a see-through velvet...

Duo smiled unconsciously; a word escaped his lips-

". . . Father . . . !"

* * *

><p><em><strong>I<strong>__-_

_rise from the memories of their smiles and gentle kindness____

The General Treize jerked by a sudden pull that tugged at his chest and he paused on what he was doing on the bed, feeling a flare of pain at his core that crept outward with his every breath. He frowned and felt his chest with his right hand palm, knowing his conscience constricted and with a hiss decided to do something about it; straightened his body from his crouching, letting out a che -and couldn't help but snickered when the body that was under him scooted away from him and curled up on the corner of the large bed, covering his exposed self with the bed drapes.

The General Treize chuckled satisfactorily at the pair of round frightened eyes staring at him with contempt. "You're cute like that...!" he breathed appreciatively; earning a hateful hiss from the frightened bundle. And then he left the room while laughing delightfully.

The Maxwell's room wasn't too far from his, he knew that he'd need to be able to reach it immediately when the necessity comes; it's part of his duty, anyway; one that he'd been anticipating eagerly. The possibility to be able to mold a Maxwell to his design thrilled him more than sex -he cackled at that thought, his mind teased him with a bad joke about masturbating and all-

The heavy double doors opened themselves for him when he willed it, he smirked as he enjoyed the Palace Ward's system; the face of a baffled Lieutenant Cail greeted him at once. He put the face of the composed General Kushrenada instantly, hoping the man missed his previous expression by his bafflement.

"...General." Cail bowed and pleased him in, and stayed obediently before the closed doors.

The General stepped inside the chamber, cursorily inspected the condition and half disappointed when he didn't find anything out of its shape. The only thing out of the ordinary was a trail of blackened moss shaped in shoe prints from the window to the white carpet and the bed; at the center, a heap under the blanket exuding negative feelings so dark he could picture them like tendrils coiling and lurching everywhere like snake heads looking for preys. He almost feel like sighing in bliss-

"...Duo, is something wrong?" he tried a sympathetic tone, but knew it heartily that it was still the voice of the General Treize. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Are you alright?" -this time he got the voice of the Cousin Treize right, his lips pulled to a smirk but immediately he thinned them again before anyone noticing.

The heap under the blanket was trembling slightly, light tremors that would soon exploded to a frenzy -that he knew heartily. He tentatively patted the buldge under the blanket that appeared to be a head, feeling a euphoric jolt of pain and fondness clutched at his chest multiple times stronger than the pull before, letting his body to move instinctively -and embraced the covered bundle and rocked it gently; knowing his body had done that many, many times with another Maxwell that was more frail and vulnerable than this one.

-a tear slid down from his eye.

"Did you see something...?" his lips moved automatically; he played along with the flow.

A cough-like whimper followed with a wet wheeze, and then trembling hitched sniffles answered his question; his hands sought the ends of the blanket to peel it from the bundle and found a miserable face straightened up to meet his eyes. A flash of the same face with a much younger appearance resurfaced in his mind, and he let his body moved by its own program of paternal instinct and kissed and pet the Maxwell repeatedly.

The Maxwell boy melted to the familiar touches and soon broke to a frenzied cry, clawing and clinging to his night robe like a baby-monkey, -he almost snickered at his thought, but a whip of anger lashed at his conscience with vengeance; he tsk-ed and reminded himself to have better control of his body and mind... and hugged the Maxwell's body tightly.

"Did someone hurt you?" -a wave of anger welled up in his chest and directed at himself; he quenched it down with a sense of vengeance and hate, sighed in satisfaction when nothing surged up again.

"Duo...?" he tried and kissed the brunette head wrecked by his crying fit. "I'm here, Duo... Come back to me...!" a sense of irony tickled his humorous side, he almost couldn't help himself to leer at the situation.

The Maxwell boy tried to utter something between his sobs and whimpers; his jaws were tight and tongue numb from his crying, so he couldn't say anything coherent at the time. The General Treize stared at the boy fighting his words out, and his patience didn't last too long, he still got a game waiting for him in his bed -and with that in mind he covered the boy's mouth with his, swallowing the sobs and whimpers, teasing the feverish numb tongue with his; and almost moaned in jest when he felt the boy's body stiffened in surprise even in his current state of mind.

He pulled away when the boy's cries pressed down to stiffened sobs; and stared at the wide eyes staring back at him with surprise and a touch of fright and incomprehension -he knew the Cousin Treize never touched this boy like that before.

-right. Shouldn't play with war-tool like that-  
>"Calmer now...?" he covered his action with a gentle smile. The boy's eyes searched into his eyes with alien look for some time, but eventually melted again into tears; crying in a calmer fashion. He pulled the boy into his embrace again, kissing his head offhandedly while rocking their bodies and hummed a gentle song -his body had already programmed to react like that.<p>

". . . . -ther . . " After some minutes passed the boy found his voice, muffled by the night robe he was pressed to.

"What...?" The General Treize asked softly.

-sniffle. "...I met Father..."

"Father, who?"

-sniffle. -whimper. The brunette head tilted up to face his. "My father..."

The General blinked once, searching for related memory.

_Lexiaferran Maxwell-Noventa.  
><em>-ahh, the SilverMoon; the one said as the most beautiful of all Maxwells-  
>-wait. What was the meaning of his name, again?-<br>-The Ruler of Truth. Right...! The cursed-one Maxwell.-  
>-He's dead.-<br>"Did he say something?"

-sniffle. Shook head. -sniffle "He showed me Mother..."

_Dysnaeri fe-Leavaterratha__.  
>Lea.<br>Big Sister.  
><em>-She's dead.-  
>"...and?"<p>

-sob. ". . .and...Grandmother...!" The boy's voice hitched to a higher tone, as if feeling some unbearable heartache, face twisted in pain.

-they're all dead.-  
>The General didn't feel anything with that piece of info. "And?"<p>

The Maxwell boy stilled suddenly.

The General blinked, realizing that he'd stopped breathing altogether.

"...and... WHYYYYYY...?!" The boy suddenly snapped with delirious stare, pulling at the front of the night robe as if he wanted to actually abuse the fabric. "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHYYYY-?!" and then banged at The General's chest not caring about how much strength he put into his clenched hands.

The General widened his eyes and moaned a little feeling that it was actually hurt, caught the boy's wrists to stop his frenzy-

"-AAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!"

"DUO!" The General tugged at his hands when he felt his anger rose, knowing that the Cousin Treize wouldn't get angry at this situation -but he didn't have that much patience or affection.

The Maxwell boy stopped his hysteria; hung his head, breathing hard through his gritted teeth and let his tears fell freely to his laps. He closed his air, and The General knew it.

"Duo? ...speak to me?" The General begged.

The boy sobbed once, and shook his head.

"Duo..."

"-get out..." the boy whispered.

"Duo-"

"Get out, Treize." He repeated apathetically.

The General arched his brows in reflex; for a moment he thought the boy had sensed a difference, but apparently he still had his self covered. He thought, and decided that the Cousin Treize would give in with care; so he let go the boy's wrists and placed the hands at either side of his laps gently, and kissed the still hung head. And moved to the edge of the bed to get off-

"All of you." The boy added when The General got one leg down.

"Alright, Duo." He tried an understanding smile, and cued the Lieutenant to return to his own room, leaving the Maxwell boy alone in the darkness he felt safe in.

* * *

><p><em>Nilfaran Maxwell-Darlian.<em>

_She was given nickname The BlackFlower; with tan skin and black wavy hair that reflected the light that could put silks to shame, and clear black eyes like a pair of transparent black crystal that charmed with rings of stardust inside. Her alluring charms earned her another name as The BlackWitch; given with contempt from jealous females and lusty males from afar._

_She came to the House of Kushrenada after the controversial fall of the Darlians; some said that General Kushrenada caused their demise for the sake of possessing her, and she charmed the General to do it._

_But Lilia Kushrenada, in her second year of marriage with the General, knew better than everyone who judged her evil. Nilfaran Maxwell looked like she was 18 years old at the time she got the name Kushrenada attached to her surname, she was a proud lady and a fierce warrior, and also a vengeful Maxwell; she wouldn't let any men own her.  
>Not with wealth, not with status. Not with love. Not even with life.<em>

_-and with that said, she left a long list of men who died in their effort to have her heart. And also for that, General Kushrenada fell in love with her; although at first it was for the sake of conquest._

_And Nil let him have his conquest only for once,  
>and in the same night sneaked in the shadows to find her 10 years old hidden son in a secret place.<em>

_And Lilia Kushrenada begged so she could be the mother of the child Nil conceived from that night, to be a part of Nil's design, to be the one who'd give the name Kushrenada as a family and not as sign of ownership._

_And thus, Lea Kushrenada was born in the House of Kushrenada in the third year of General Kushrenada's and Lilia's marriage.  
>Her Maxwell name was <em>_Dysnaeri fe-Leavaterratha__; the child from a Maxwell and The General, listed formally as the first child of his wife Lilia.  
>The only Maxwell that didn't have that name, but still shared the curse.<em>

_Seven years later, Lilia's only son was born. _

_And another seven years later, right before The King's son was born,  
>the 14 years old Lea met Nil's hidden son, Lex, for the first time.<br>And five years later, after the both of them engaged in the battle to annihilate the Aurilatha;  
>Duo was born.<em>

_-the son of a daughter who married her elder brother from the same mother...  
>who was also her father...<em>

"_-that's whyy... you 're all ABOMINATIONSSS...!" the-thing screeched._

"_-a Maxwell could only give birth from joining with another Maxwell, but they hid that fact well...! DO YOU KNOW AT FIRST THERE WERE ONLY A PAIR OF SIBLINGS OF THEM?!" the slobering gaping mouth spat slime with every hateful word-_

"_The big brother was a lad with such inhuman powers -so the Kingdom made use of him! ...-and The King was infatuated by his little sister's beauty; so he forced himself on that little girl... -but she killed herself saying that 'I BELONG TO MY BIG BROTHER'!-"  
><em>"_SUCH IMMORAL BASTARDS...-!"  
><em>"_HE COPULATED WITH HER DEAD BODY IN FRONT OF MEEEE!"  
><em>"_AND AFTERWARDS HER DEAD BODY GOT PREGNANT WITH ANOTHER PAIR OF GIRL AND BOY -! HE HAD TO CUT THROUGH HER BELLY TO GET THEM OUT 'CAUSE IT COULDN'T GIVE BIRTH...! -ghack -ahck" -a series of coughing-spatting-croaking laugh wrecked the melting mass that kept hissing as the slime ate away at its rotten dried flesh, the fumes covered the air around its uncanny miserable figure until it looked like a thick fog. But the-thing couldn't stop itself, for it was its time of glory it had been waiting for eternity -to exact its vengeance to the Blood that had caused its eternal suffering._

"_YOU 'RE ALL DESCENDANTS OF DEATH AND SINS-! YOU 'RE ALL LIVING CARCASSES!" the charges shooting between the planks on its back increased their sizes to bolts of lightning-_

"_ABOMINATIOOOOONSSSSS...!"  
>-and with a sickening belching sound, the mass exploded.<em>

_Duo jerked to realization again at the occurrence; finding himself standing in the middle of the dome floor, apparently on the center of a spell circle that was made as the floor pattern. He didn't remember what happened after that, or how he got back to his room; the one thing filling his mind was the question, why did they left him to live alone, when all the other Maxwells could have killed him too when they committed their suicides._

- because a sacrifice is needed?

-because this Kingdom wouldn't let them die if it didn't hold at least one hostage?

-because he was...-?

-because what...?

"-whyyyy...?" Duo sobbed, hugging his knees and hid his face from the world; "...why did you ever give birth to me, Mother...?"  
><em>-why didn't you all take me with you?<em>

All that's left was the fact that he was the last of the cursed Maxwell.  
>Alone.<br>Lost.  
>And was drowning in his Nightmare in unbearable speed.<p>

* * *

><p><em>_<em>_scraping at the rubles and digging into the mud;_

* * *

><p>_and soon...<p>

Soon **I** -will be nameless._

Odin stared with a dark scowl at the book page that washed itself with blackness, leaving only those two sentences in smoky white; and knowing that the rest empty pages of that book had also been washed into black from the sight of their side that was clutched under his thumb.

At first, he wanted to check if anything was written about Heero or his kind, even for the most subtle hint he'd missed before; albeit knowing that the book wouldn't provide him with answers to his liking.

...and he was right; that book only gave him escalating dark feelings-

He threw that book on the bed with contempt, before he'd rip it to shreds -or tried to-, and covered it with his pillows... giving more power and time in doing so than necessary, as if he could smother it.

On his bed, the demon lied unmoving like a fair princess waiting for a kiss of Life that would wake her again; but Odin knew that Life wasn't anywhere near him... even if such thing ever existed at all-

* * *

><p>In his dark room, Duo wept into his own embrace... curled up on the corner of his bed in the cocoon of his blanket. The dark didn't provide him warmth, nor company; but obediently swallowed him from the world's eyes.<p>

The memory of a 10 years old boy who was joined with his own mother, while she carried the scent and traces of another man who violated her, kept resurfacing his mind like a punishment. Or when he's already 29 years old and joined with his 18 years old sister, knowing full well that she was the daughter of his own mother from his own seed... and that she knew exactly who he was...-

...when he stared at the white full moon in an isolated cave through the large hole of its ceiling, waiting for his mother to arrive... a pouch of dried flowers in his pocket, a gift for her-

-when he punished people who dared to sneer at him or his people with unveiled contempt, and knowing how easy it was for him to do cruel things.

When he put his tired feet into the gentle stream of the small river and cherished the silence of the massacred tribes behind him.

When he plucked a bat-berry and flung it to hit the back of the blond head of his sister-

-when she snapped behind with an angry scowl and beamed with flushed cheeks at the sight of his gentle face...

When they cried silently embracing each other in a helpless heap in the hollowed bark of some ancient tree, whispering words of prayers over and over for their unborn child; spatters of blood clung on their faces and fronts, the only testimony to their crimes...

...when she tried to kill him while clutching at her larger belly, saying she didn't want her child to meet him... to ever share his curse-

. . . when they were alive.

"-stooop..." Duo pleaded, "Please stop...!" But the memories kept assailing his mind; they were always in his Blood, like Heero said, he always had parts of his ancestors inside him; he just had to find them in his core.

And he could see their lives from their eyes; felt the feelings from their hearts.

And he knew that he was loved-  
>Even from before he was born.<p>

It was just that his Blood was never given the life, -the freed life that his ancestors had to scheme to get it for him... and they all had to live wretched lives-

All because of this Kingdom and the people in it...  
>These greedy despicable people...<br>-_these vile humans...!_

* * *

><p>In the dark of hidden secrets and dead crimes, the droopy rusty chains weighed by moss and bits and scraps and fumes rattled slightly.<p>

A ghostly sigh of agony; long and sorrowful, and full of hatred...  
>-...I am rightful to this land's throne...<br>-...I am the King...!  
>-...I will get it back... just you watch, ...Maxwell...!<p>

* * *

><p>x - - - - - - - - x<p>

**Thanx for reading**

_saru's note_:  
>very sorry for the long absent; part of it due to work (but that was on may-june), the most part of it was because of this keyboard got its 2nd-function button forever-exists! So, while saru had to give one finger to always press that button while typing, the bad revelation was that the "" button would become asterisk... yeahh, good; there's no way this monkey would resort to copy-paste it every time a dialogue needs it.<p>

Good revelation was that, after playing pacman (while knowing that the arrow buttons were also somewhat not functioning well) and dead a very annoying 5 deaths in a row for the -nth time and in anger banged the flat area under the keyboard and hurt saru's right wrist for 2 days, the 2nd-function button finally stopped trying to be over-existing...hahahahahah... and oni-tan suggested saru to buy portable keyboard! Hahahahahahahhh... but royalty-payment has yet to arrive! Hmph!  
>Well, the arrow buttons still had errors except the up-arrow... so at least saru's keyboard still could get it up...! (beware of bad joke)<p>

Eh, yeah... saru is typing about notebook. Hahahahahahh...

fasting month is over, so saru could go back to HQ and continue comics-work, which is why saru wouldn't update fics more before the over-due book finished. Let's see... 60 more pages in a month. -oops...


	25. Chapter 25

** Another -24 september '14**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.  
>Warning: hmmmm… think in images? <em>

**chapter 25**

light WHITE hide

black

wane justified

BIND

alone fill

ban

HATE bright FIND

sky

cold

YOU

- . . . . -

_The universe I lived in was just a sea of words-  
>floating-<br>streaming-  
>flooding-<br>ever-changing_

_inside my head  
>in my sight<br>everywhere I be-_

_When I opened my eyes there were no people, no beings, no matters; everything was just words in their honesty. That's how I saw her; a great beautiful arched symbol read as 'mother', although she said I could never call her that. All the more so I never called her at all; she didn't really care what she was to me, what mattered was that I understood what had to be done._

_She was important-  
>that's what she was in my comprehension;<br>-important to The Cause._

_Although sometimes I wondered how she looked like, as a creature;  
>as the beautiful one-<br>but she said, it was for doing __**this**__ that I was born as what I was…  
>and then she told me to lie down, and let her do the rest-<em>

_-…what were we doing?  
>We're spinning life threads.<br>-was what she said._

_I understood The Cause._

_-I just didn't understand her. _

"_-…LEX!"_

_-she probably didn't even try to understand me._

_-if probably she too didn't see me as a being._

"_I SAID, LEX-!"_

"_I NEED MORE LUMPS HERE! STOP DAYDREAMING, WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SIEGE, DAMMIT!"_

…heat SPIRIT hurry…

"_Hmmm-. . . . . . yeahhh, okay! You can stop staring at me, already, and put something BIG there!"_

BOREDOM me

"_Sir! We've fired everything we've got; there are only pebbles left…!"_

…tired soldier man hunger pity…

"_-ahemm! Please stop staring at the soldier; make something to be flung, instead! And I mean NOW!"_

"_LIEUTENANT! WE'RE OUT OF OIL, AND THEY'RE RETURNING WITH FIRE!"_

"_WHAT'S GOOD IS FIRE WHEN WE DON'T HAVE OIL-?!"_

"_I MEANT __**THE ENEMIES**__ ARE RETURNING OUR FIRES WITH FIRES…!"_

"_-WHAAAT?!"_

"_-IT'S RAINING __**FIRE**__!"_

"_-oh, sh't! TAKE COVEEERR!"_

"_-Oww, this is worse than yesterday! What's Center doing?! You asked for back up from the Maxwells, didn't you, Sir?!"_

"_**That**__'s what Center sent for back up, idiot!"_

"_That BOY?! But-"_

"_Lieutenant! The shields won't last long, the Shielders said…! And the enemies are gaining more power from our men's fears and worries-"_

"_I know! Report something I don't, already- …hey, LEX, TAKE COVER NOW!"_

"_-Drizzle-"_

"_WHAT?! HURRY AND GET DOWN HERE-!"_

"_LIEUTENANT- IMPACT!"_

"_-OWAHH! DON'T SQUASH ME UNDER SO MANY OF YOUU-!"_

"_-quiet!-"_

"…_whaaat(?!) don't just squat there (!) I told you to-"_

"…_lieutenant(!) the impact has yet to come(!) and we're getting cool shower instead(!)"_

"_lieutenant(!) it's getting silent suddenly(!) what's happening(?!)"_

"…_lieutenant(!) why are we whispering(?!)"_

"…_lieutenant(!) everyone is staring at us(!) should I say something louder to them(?)"_

"_-uhhhh …..Lex(!) it's not funny(!) but the least you could do is smirk when I say that…(!) -dammit(!) you don't understand, do you(?!) and stop staring(!)"_

"_huh(?) what's that mean(?) …'eye'(?) you mean where to aim(?) -uh, right(!)"_

"_tsk(!) off with you, back to your posts(!) -ehem(!) right, Lex(!) those towers and barbican, you see(?) aim those(!)"_

"…_he- hey, lieutenant(!) the boy's filled the catapult with rock fragments(!)"_

"_. . . . . . Lex, did you wrote those symbols(?) -okay, if it's your doing; stop giving me that-stare(!) -and fling the- ah(!)"_

"_lieutenaaant…(!) it won't do any good if we just fling rock fragments at the enemyyy(!) the best thing we could hope for is that they'd get something in their eyessss(!)"_

"_Lex, one fell out from the bowl -what's this symbol stands for(?)"_

"_-boulder!-"_

"_-HWAAGHH(!) YOU WANT TO CRUSH MY ARMS OR ANYTHING(?!) -YOU'RE LUCKY IT DIDN'T FELL ON MY FEET, DAMMIT(!)"_

"…_.-hey -hey, lieutenaaant(!)"_

"_WHAAAT(?!) -IF ANYONE REPORT SOMETHING USELESS AGAIN, I SWEAR I'LL-(!)"_

"_. . . . . . it's raining boulders theeere…(!)"_

"_Oh-! . . . . . . . . . I can see that . . . and stop with that annoying long-ended whisper already(!) -hey, Lex(!) -saaay… seems like you can do this, after all(!) -stare elsewhere-(!) -say…we got river on this side, so if we do something like fill the bowls with water… can you make, like, blizzard…(?!) hm(?)"_

"_right, just a nod is an answer enough -HEEYY(!) FILL THE CATAPULT CONTAINERS WITH WATERRR(!)"_

"_. . . lieutenant, you're still whispering (!)"_

"…_you just want to brag at the enemy, right(?) just because they got back ups from powerful magic-users(!)"_

"_-blizzard!-"_

"_-WOAAAAHHHHH(!)"_

"_-lieu- lieuten- -nanth…(!)"_

"_-we go-got -blizz- ard…(!)"_

"_he-….her-rr-rre(!)"_

"_-LE -LE-EE-EEKSSS-SSSH(!) I M-MMEA-NTHH ON D-D-DE ENN-NEMM-MM-MYY -DAMMM-ITTT-ALLL-LL(!) D-DO-NNTH GRINN-NN(!) YOU-RRR A-ALLL-LL GONNNN-A FRRRE-EEE-ZZE YO-RRRRR T-TEEE-THHH!_

Duo opened his eyes instantly; a small smirk tugged at the end of his lips, a tiny sense of humor was still tickling his heart. He blinked repeatedly, staring at the ceiling of his chamber. The feeling he had was so surreal; but it felt good to have that mightiness still lingered on his tongue… and in his mind.

That was… his father's memory, wasn't it? From his eye view, even.  
>That notorious Lex Maxwell-<p>

He was so innocent and childlike, however; far from the image that others had depicted him to be… although it's probably due to the age he was when that happened. Came to think of it, Duo didn't really feel his age; it's like Lex himself didn't feel his own age… why's that?

"-…Duo!"

"Huuh-?!" Duo jumped, staring back at the Lieutenant who seemed like he'd been eyeing him all night from the chair near the door; probably giving him some space as if…

"-…did -did I lash something out…?!"

"No." the deeper frown on the man's face meant he was actually dissatisfied with that answer; he probably thought it wasn't habitual of Duo to not lash out in his episodes.

Duo blinked, a stiff grin plastered on his lips. Was he that… 'nightmarish' that night?

"Ummm… could you…? I mean- I'm kind of…" Duo asked sheepishly, and his stomach decided to back him up with a long loud growl.

Cail stared him with a weird frown, but he still got up and opened the doors; pushing a food cart in. "I asked for the food this morning; in case you'd decide to wake up and eat." He didn't say anything else for explanation.

Duo took it gratefully; he was somewhat in a light mood that he didn't want to hear about anything bad he'd done that night. Took a look at the light streaming down from between the crisscrossing windowframe; "…what time is it?", he asked as the man put the trays of food on a small table so that Duo could eat from his seat on the edge of the bed.

"Pass 10."

"Oh, late breakfast, then." He smiled and dug in wholeheartedly. All the while he was aware of the man's scrutiny on him, but he didn't want to ruin his good food with bitter mood.

Or was it? He realized as he tried to not notice the man's eyes on him he saw nothing broken around his bed, and in that chamber.

But if he didn't have such an episode that the Lieutenant should be worried about him now; why were his eyes so glued on his being, then? -No; he thought again that he didn't even remember getting to bed last night. Or when he fell asleep…

Was he sleeping…?

"Say, Lieutenant…" a thought of the Lieutenant from Lex's memory flashed in his mind, and Duo couldn't help but snickered; although that Lieutenant had probably not being a Lieutenant anymore in this time -and that Lex didn't… couldn't see the man's face and therefore Duo didn't know how that man looked like as a human being-

"Yes?" Cail asked obligingly.

Duo chuckled lightly; "Hmm… nothing; just checking your voice. I just realized you're not whispering, which is a good thing.", and chuckled deeper.

Cail blinked a few times, with a deeper frown digging between his brows; he'd look older than his age if he did that often, Duo thought-

"Wah-!" Cail jumped and caught Duo's head as it lurched forward aiming the half emptied soup bowl. "…Duo?" he tried; even knowing that Duo was fast asleep… like, really fast! But he decided it was alright when he saw Duo had a small smile on his lips; it's better to have him sleeping with seemingly a pleasant dream than having him crying his heart out in solitude like last night. After that hysterical cry as if he was physically hurting he finally had a truce with his demons, the man thought as he tucked Duo back to bed; he truly whished that it would last a long time for the boy's sake.

"… _who's that nympho? Parading with only a blanket on in broad daylight…!"_

And as that instant Duo's sleeping face started to frown; Cail paused his hands as he was covering Duo's body with a fresh thin blanket.

"_An udderless one…!"; -a series of randy chuckle._

Duo moaned in complaint, twitching his head as if he tried to turn it. Cail sighed, knowing his wish wouldn't be so easily granted; he then pulled the chair from near the doors and sat next to the bed, rubbing his face as he settled on his seat to chase the sleepiness away.

_A snigger; "What? __**That**__'s a guy…?!" -a leer._

"_That's one of those young Maxwells…!"_

"_Aah…!" -a knowing moan; "Whose toy is __**that**__?"_

"_Lady Selachii's toy…(!)" -a gossiping whisper._

_A silent gasp; "No way…(!) -that sicko noble girl who likes cutting up faces(?!)"_

"…_ugly faces(!) I heard she had a herd of pretty collection of servants in her castle…(!) that nympho is her favorite lately; and they're matched up in sickness too… I heard from my neighbor working in her place that __**that**__ will actually walk around naked if not covered up by others…(!) I supposed she didn't object to the sight!" -another snigger._

"_I know I wouldn't!" -a choir of leering guffaw._

"_Riiight…! I bet with that toned physic, __**that**__ is tighter than that pretty-Nil's holes!"_

_Stop._

_Turn around._

"_-hey, __**that**__ is looking this way…(!)" -a stiffened unholy grin._

"_no worries(!) I heard __**that**__ can't remember faces… something to do with a curse or other things(!)" -deep satisfied chuckles._

"_-Rotten mouth!-"_

"_-so if we don't- GWHAAACK!" -a belching cough; a fortified painful scream; fell kneeling to the ground, dripping puss and putrid blackened blood._

"_-AAAAAGH! WHAT'S WITH-…?!" -a realizing gasp; fearful exhale._

"_-Dirty mind!-"_

"_-No! NoOO! I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING AGAINS'T-!" -a sudden pause; spitting mud, spitting mud, spitting mud, streaming mud from eyes, from nostrils, from ears…mud, mud mud. "-AAAAAAAAAGHH!"_

"_-WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?! ATACKING ANOTHER NOBLE HOUSE'S GUARDS IN THEIR POSTS IS THE SAME AS ATACKING THE NOBLE HOUSE ITSELF!"_

_Captain bark dull_

"_-Empty head-"_

"_-AAAAAAAAAHH!" -a woman's horrified shrill seeing into the man's hollowed head from his eye holes as he fell and lied unmoving._

"_LEX MAXWELL!"_

_Turn._

"_YOU'RE NOT SUMMONED FOR PETTY GAMES! GET YOUR ARSE TO THE ASSEMBLY ROOM IN THE SECOND FLOOR, NOW!"_

…_slight_

_slight slight slight_

_slight SLIGHT!_

"_NOW, MAXWELL!"_

_Concede._

Duo gasped as he tossed his head; a heavy prickly feeling just passed by his heart… it turned static now.

-static. That's how he felt; how Lex always felt without disturbance. He barely talked, he didn't need food or water, or sleep; he's alone, he didn't need anything, he didn't see anything…anyone… and the universe around him was naked to his eyes.

_LONELY me_

Duo gasped deeper and opened his eyes wide, delirious by incomprehension and torn by the light. Some heavy breaths, he closed his eyes again with a complaining moan; and instantly fell to another slumber.

This had been continuing since last night, the moment Duo stopped his hysterical screaming. Cail had given up with his cool washcloth dripping from the bowl of water by the nightstand; it seemed that Duo didn't feel it at all when he used it to calm him down. He's not sleeping, and it's not really nightmare; it's as if Duo's consciousness was taken to a deeper realm without himself realizing. Duo hadn't lashed out anything since Cail reentered the chamber after Treize left, so he didn't think that it's alarming… yet. He'd heard something like The Maxwells were sharing knowledge in dreams; so it's possibly one of those things. If Duo still didn't get better that evening, he'd report to The General. Although he'd prefer it if he could just consult Duo himself about his own conditions… something was off with The General last night eventhough he couldn't actually point out what it was.

It's just that churning feeling in his midsection like he was feeling nervous. Sure, he knew The General liked to earn himself nervous feelings from his subordinates, and Cail was always nervous facing him; but since it was _always_… he knew it was a different kind of nervousness he felt last night…

And Odin was preoccupied with his Demon right now… he couldn't ask his Commander for anything at the moment; no one would assent to be sent to Odin with petty questions to ask him; and he shouldn't leave Duo on his own, especially since the Dignitaries were still patrolling the alleyways to this chamber waiting for his absence so that they could barge in and sugar-talk Duo to their sides.

Cail sighed out deeply and poured himself a glass of already not-so-warm tea from the teapot. Finished it at once, and thought that it was more of not-warm-at-all tea, instead…

The cool breeze brought the unearthly scent from the sanctuary-trees around the Palace Court; calming and reassuring, as if everyone's worries were blown far away to an unreal realm. Like perhaps Duo's consciousness was right now.

. . . . . . how far away could it be, from this reality…?

_A boy._

_Bright eyes; straightforward, piercing, unwavering eyes._

_Beautiful-  
>Beautifully cursed eyes.<em>

_The view adjusted as he squatted down, he could feel the boy's eyes followed him. A smile; he could see it in a symbol too-_

_-a beautiful smile._

"_Hello." The boy said._

_He smiled in return, just feeling his facial muscles moved… not knowing what a smile really looked like, or how it was done._

"_You are Lex." The boy said with a clear voice._

_He nodded._

"_Are you going to die?" the boy asked with a child's curious tone._

_He could hear his own chuckles as answer to that. A pair of small hands cupped his face; he blinked… the grand symbol in front of him bled out floating symbols read as heart. He cupped the small hands on his face with his much bigger, colder hands._

"_Sad not. Great King." He heard his own voice, his lips pulled almost painfully forming a wide smile… or a leer; he couldn't really differentiate between those acts._

"_Bless your heart. Full of love."_

"_Bless your soul. Full of life."_

"_Bless your hands. Full of glory."_

"_Bless your smile. Full of bliss."_

"_Bless your eyes. Full of truth…-" he felt his head moved forward, his lips kissed the boy's eyelids and forehead… somewhat awkward when they had their hands cupping his own face._

"_-LEX MAXWELL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE PRINCE?!"_

_-and the serenity broke like thin ice crushed by soldiers' barging feet._

"-no! Wait!" Duo felt the rough tugs of the soldiers' hands dragging his body away from the boy… He bolted to sit, eyes wide and slightly teary, hand reaching out towards…-

-towards…?

Duo gasped hard breaths and pulled his hand and used it to wipe his sweaty forehead. It wasn't Lex who was reaching out, his arms were pinned behind his back as they dragged him away… -so…

That boy? The Prince's hand…? No, his dream's 3rd-person's view point showed him that the boy was standing unmoving behind the soldiers' barricade, trying to steel his heart and not letting his weakness shown.

So it was his hand reaching out…? -Duo stared at his opened palm; his fingers were shaky and cold and wet by nervous sweat. He moaned at the prick inside his chest as he realized it was himself who tried to reach out to…

"…Lex…!" he mumbled yearningly.

-so misunderstood.

-so alone.

- …so beautiful and miserable.

-so uncomprehending… even not knowing what being alive was supposed to feel like.

-_like he was never a human being from the beginning…!_ Duo took a deep shaky breath and sighed out slowly, trying to calm his nerves and stiff muscles down. His heart beat painfully in his chest. Why was he even dreaming -no, _recalling_ Lex's memories…?

'Though a little mind in his head knew, that Lex was probably trying to soothe his pains away; that Lex somehow knew that he would be utterly miserable in finding out about his roots… or birth; …or whatever it was they called The Cause.

-_not quite_… Lex was probably trying to make him aware of the importance of The Cause…?

But he didn't even know it; that…that-whatever they called The Cause was…! What was it?! What was so important that they'd slave their persons in the hands of degenerate humans far weaker than themselves for…?!

He just couldn't see the reason or… _the cause_ behind it…! It didn't make sense at all!

If… if ever The Cause had something to do with the demons; …like the annihilation of the demons or something along that line…?

He wouldn't be able to face it. To face Heero… to even think of Heero in that light. No! He didn't want that! Didn't even want to find out about such a thing…!

A violent shivers wrecked his body and he hugged himself fighting down the nausea assaulting his stomach.

"_-why?"_

A voice asked him levelly.

Duo thought it was the Lieutenant from his chair asking… but he realized with a churning feeling that his surrounding was pitch black; and he was standing weightless and numb-

"_-why would you think that?"_

With jerky movement, Duo pulled his head up; facing the all-too-known black mass of his Nightmare floating a near distance from him. A grave fear clutched at his heart, he was fighting to breathe… if ever he needed to breathe at all…-

"_-you."_

"_-what do you think you are?"_

The floating black mass was somehow familiar looking… like it had been seen in real life, in his waking hour… like it was… -a see-through velvet.

Duo hurled at the realization and fell to his knees; he never knew that there was a 'floor' in his Nightmare's realm. It was kind of hard… and cold; unforgiving floor…-

The black mass had pointy ends, flat almost random-sided surfaces… -and that voice…

Duo hurled again, but nothing came out; it was in dreamscape after all-

"_-you are made for one reason…"_

The black mass unfurled in its floating form, uncoiled and opened itself- a little part of his mind expected to see a violated Heero in his tangled altar of confinement; but instead, the mass opened to a throne-like seat …-

An eerie half cocoon-like throne with coiling elongated claws keeping whomever sitting in it entrapped, caressing the pale naked skin in adoring coils; the black mass thinned in layers like mist or ragged cloth covering some strategic areas… it almost looked like the cloth of whomever it was sitting there had dissolved from his body into the blackness of the throne-

A cold stare-

Lithe supple body-

A pair of rose-colored lips thinned in dissatisfaction-

Long… long wavy silver hair-

Purple eyes that would put amethysts to shame…!

-and _that_ voice!

"_-The Cause."_

Duo started to hyperventilate in panic and fright; that apathetic face ghostly reminded him of himself in the mirror… only it was a couple years older and adorned with more unearthly features; -like angels'…

-or demons'…!

It was _him_!

It was _him_ all along; in all his 16 years of lifespan.. _He_ was residing in his Nightmare!

-no! _He_ **was** his Nightmare!

All those mental assaults… all those tempting contempt…! All those secrets _he_ had slapped to his own face…!

"_-don't resist anymore…"_

"…_Child…!"_

All _his_ manipulating whispers… all _his_ clawing possessiveness… all _his_ WORDS! All the truths _he_ knew Duo never wanted them to be known…! All the things _he_ dug from Duo's heart… and mind… and desires… All Heero…!

All of it… in _his_ possession… in _his_ commands, written in his SYMBOLS… as _he_ read them aloud and moved Duo's body from the inside-

-_his_ truth…

This man's…-

This Ruler who had almighty curse-

…..who had almighty control over him-

* * *

><p>-and <em><strong>I<strong>_- will be nameless.

* * *

><p>-and Duo let out an inhuman horror-filled shriek, so hard and long that he felt he was ripping his vocal cord and burst his lungs in the process.<p>

But his world remained black…

x - - - - - - - - x

Cail was nodding off and he woke up with a start. The room was somewhat dim as the sky darkened by layers of black cloud; he wondered if it was going to get stormy later… what a weather for such a day, he muttered his complaint under his breath, -a searing fear jerked him to alert and he instantly grabbed his sword.

Duo was lying unmoving on his bed, just like a corpse… the thought chilled the man's spines, as he slowly neared the boy; careful as to not wake up any nightmare that could be possessing his stilled figure. He knew something was not right when he saw Duo's hardened face; it was ghastly and devoid of life. His eyes were opened but unseeing; the irises were fully black, such pitch black that wouldn't even reflect the light. His body was stiff like he was a doll made of wood.

The surreal scene made the man's heart beat painfully in his chest; but not yet, he can't flee yet -he had to do something, his little mind whispered to him. So he carefully extended his right hand to touch Duo's hand, while his left hand gripping the sword handle tightly; but before his hand reached, Duo's eyes rolled under his unmoving eyelids and turned to him exactly like a ventri-doll would, -and that did it for The Lieutenant as his instinct moved his body and hands, and he was barely aware of what he let out from his mouth as he slapped Duo's face left and right-

x - - - - - - - - x

…flares of pain-

A distant sound-

Dim light…

That's his only passage back; if he lost this chance, Duo knew he'll never make it back to the surface. Surging up his courage -since he knew his Nightmare clutched him in the power of fear-, he prayed to whatever God may hear him...-

A flash of Heero staring at him with uncertainty in the cave passed his mind's eye; it gave him reasons not to break. -that time, Heero must have known who he was…or what Nightmare resides in him; why else would he made that long speech about ancestors and names…?

-oh, that's right. He had yet apologized to him… for hurting him… for betraying that unspoken trust they shared when they gave each other's names in that cave… for breaking whatever bond he thought he had from the journey back to the Palace. It wasn't simply about him hitting Odin or declaring his hatred towards the man in front of everyone; he understood now, just how grave his mistake was in Heero's perspective. Even if he apologized to him, it might not be mendable… Heero might not see him as part of his master's duty anymore -that even he was yet labeled as a friend- …he'd just be another adversary in that cold Palace.

But it's alright…-

It's alright as long as he still had a chance to see him face to face; eventhough Heero would probably ignore him like he did to the rest of the Palace people.

…Just to be able to see him with his own eyes…-

x - - - - - - - - x

Duo bolted to sit, with a frightened scream wracking his body; and sought whatever moor he could find so as to not slip to that dark realm again. He barely felt the strong hands clutching at his shoulders, or heard that distant sound that was now close to his ears… of its vibration rumbling on his chest…

The guards from outside the doors burst into the room, they had frightened looks which soon turned to a surprise, making an 'ah-' stop and an 'oh…?' uncertain -almost comical faces.

Blinking rapidly with eyebrows curved up, they took three seconds to evaluate the scene and decided to break the situation. "-Cail? ...Lieutenant, Sir?"

Cail somewhat heard he was called, but his scream wouldn't stop before his voice breaks, or he lost his breath… he thought over and decided he needed some air in his lungs. With a cough and a hard wheeze he stopped screaming and realized that terrified scream he was still hearing wasn't his voice; it was Duo, in his arms; clutching at his body like a lifeline… -it was Duo.

"DUO…-!" with a coarse voice he shook Duo's body and tried to pry him from his body. Duo's scream choked and he seemed like he tried to continue it, but his lungs decided they needed air too, although his throat constricted and he was in a coughing frenzy. But it was Duo.

"Ah! It's alright! Just nightmare-!" The Lieutenant made a baffled excuse to the guards; something they didn't quite believe but decided to let it passed… the air in that room freaked them out, they wouldn't have gotten in if not for The Lieutenant's screaming. With tentative nods they left the room trying to not look like they were too pleased to not have to be in there any minute longer.

Duo's coughing fit was broken by wheezes and frightened moans; he looked like a little child trying to get free from their nightmare's clutches, Cail thought…-if only the man knew.

"…Duo?" Cail tried and wiped the locks of hair plastered to Duo's forehead by cold sweat. They may have looked silly under different circumstances, clutching each other and screaming like hell fire burned their tails like that… but even in the eyes of others the-now in that room might have not looked funny, judging by the fear in the guards' eyes he saw. Probably they've just dodged a swinging blade without knowing-

"Duo? …should I call for Gen-?" His words were cut by Duo tightening his clutch in a jerk, shaking his head while shivering as if in cold. Cail blinked the leftover of his fear and surprise out, and knew that Duo needed an anchor more than someone he was used to cling to right now; so he pulled the boy closer, arranging his small arching body to settle in a more relaxing manner and embraced his shoulders and head with a deep sigh.

Yeah… it was probably more than a swinging blade they've dodged. He shuddered as his mind recalled the black-eyes that turned at him… it felt like he was marked by Death's eyes.

x - - - - - - - - x

Odin's head lulled forward and hit Heero's hand; a finger twitched ever so slightly under his forehead, and Odin was instantly awake, wide-eyed… almost delirious-

"…Heero?" he tried carefully, restraining his excitement with steeled voice, covering Heero's hand with his much larger and coarse hand. There was nothing.

He waited for another minute, eyes wild trying to catch whatever cue of his Demon moving; but there was still nothing.

"…What's wrong, Heero…?" he mumbled, stroking the pale cheek with the back of his fingers, carefully avoiding the half-opened wings on the pillow.

After a few breaths span still nothing, he let out a depressed sigh, gripping the unmoving hand on and off as if he could pump his wish into it. Wiping his face with a hand while growling, he hit his head to the mattress in a slump; his men might say that he was now un-Odin-ish, but even he could be drown in depression too… there were situations that got him down too… he just didn't let it showed outside, acting rude just to hide it under his skin.

Another finger twitched, stronger this time. Odin felt it like a cut of a dagger on his palm.

"Heero?!" he jumped and stood up from his creaking chair, looming over the lying demon with his muscular body. And another minute passed with nothing. Odin hissed, "Hey- come on! It's been five days, already! How long are you going to stay still…?" he begged at the end; he almost said 'stay dead', but his tongue had reflexively avoided that word. His wound on his waist had healed to a faint scar already, so why would Heero still be unconscious…?

His focused senses caught a faint moan answering his words, and then another. Odin thought in frantic for a couple of seconds, and widened his eyes in realization. "BY GODS…!" he sprang up and ran towards the bathroom, not minding the ajar door. "WAIT, HEERO; I'LL BE THERE-OUCH! -DAMN!"

Not half a minute later he ran towards the bed while toweling himself in haste, his body was steaming from the hot shower; put his underwear as fast as he could and jumped into the thick blankets.

"-Sorry! I'm sorry!" he muttered while pulling his Demon's body into his embrace, noticing how stiff it was, didn't take time to strip the shirt off him the normal way and just ripped it off and tossed it to the floor in anger; Odin nestled in his usual pose and arranged Heero's body to drape over him as best it could with that stiffness. "I'm sorry! Your share! Take all you need!" Using his left hand stroking the cold smaller back while his right hand massaged the stilled hand, noticing how stiff the joints were that if he bent that hand he'd probably hear cracking sounds.

"-I'm sorry, Heero, I'm sorry!" he muttered over and over remorsefully. It was his mistake that he didn't do what he usually did in that passed five days; he had been thinking about Myrica's words about their links being that easily broken, and too absorbed in being careful not to worsen Heero's state, minding about his own wound and that poison despite knowing that Myrica had took it out from his system… so he'd been treating him like a breakable thin ice, and even avoided touching him unnecessarily; watching over him from the too-used chair by the bed… bitterly aware of the thing he kept under his own pillow.

-it's all that cursed book's faults!

It got him over-contemplating everything and missed what he had to do; what he usually did.

Another moan in complaint, and Odin clamped his mouth with a click. "Shh- okay, I'll shut up…!" he whispered, and settled to being cozy in their arrangement. A thought popped up unbidden, although he should be realizing it sooner or later; that Heero was waiting for his fill these five days' span…and he didn't even realize it; that twitch and faint moans were all his leftover strength could muster; that he was probably listening to all his rambling all along but was having no power to wake up at all. And the man felt shame washed over his being with an avenging shiver. It almost brought tears to his eyes.

Odin pulled the smaller body up and clutched it with both arms, keeping the forehead on his chin since Heero's neck was inflexible, and he couldn't forced it so that his head lied on its side. "-…I'm sorry, Heero…" he whispered with a hard voice to the cold skin, almost kissing it with every word out; feeling the half-opened wings feathers ghosted over his heated skin like a cool mist… he surrendered to the urge and his guilt, and kissed the brown head gently, remorsefully. And he was grateful that it wasn't anymore later he realized this…

x - - - - - - - - x

"This is Treize...!" the greeting was confident in a warm tone. The double doors opened up by themselves revealing the extravagant living room; The General proceeded into the inner chamber passing through its opened doors, he knew where to look for the occupant and directed straight to the balcony. The glass doors were opened, leaving the lace curtains swayed gently in the breeze; the setting sun gave its last lick to give colors at the white see-through curtains, making picturesque half-silhouette of the man sitting cross-legged on the balcony railing.

The sight made his heart skipped a bit, he caught himself staring at that balcony for some seconds as he paused from his strides; with an annoyed frown he quenched whatever feeling bursting from within so that he could control his body better.

"Anyone trying to kill you could push you off that railing without so much an effort...!" he commented conversationally, setting the swaying lace curtain to the side with his right hand as he walked towards the sitting man.

"Would you do that, Treize?" a kind smile bloomed on that angelic face, the yellow orange-tinted lights gave luminescent aura on the long blond hair played by the cool wind...

-the lights and colors were so thick it felt as if he could breathe them in, like a different kind of addictive drug; The General shook his head. Maybe he's already addicted...!

"Is there something urgent?" he asked to the back presented to him.

"Do I have to have something urgent to call you here?" the gentle tone carried a melancholic smile, but he didn't turn around to even spare Treize a glance.

The General blinked and waited several breaths span; "...is there something wrong, **Master**?"

A light chuckle; "...there's always something wrong, Treize...". The presented back was hunched a little, a relaxed pose... almost looking tired and frail; not the sturdy back of a Master -a King... just a young man who'd been alienated by his own world for almost his entire life.

It looked lonely.

"What happened to your face?"

"Oh? My-cat and I had a little argument..." The General provided conversationally, "I probably shouldn't spoil him too much." He added, and instantly regretted having said that by the end of the last word. He cleared his throat to hide it, hoping the **Master** wouldn't find it unusual of him.

"To have fights means you can make up later..." The **Master** chuckled again.

"I suppose... but other people's Familiars wouldn't attack their masters, especially leaving evidences of such act on places where it's plain for everyone to see -I was hoping you'd say that to defend me, even with criticism...!" The General said with a soft snort.

"Ahaa haha ha haa! That's your fault for spoiling your-cat too much...!" The **Master** laughed outright but didn't turn around, as if he was preoccupied with something to stare at down there somewhere.

His spirit lifted at hearing the burden-free laughter, he didn't realize his lips pulled to a smile; it felt even better knowing that he was the one who made his **Master** laughed.

-yes, it's an addiction to have such power over such an almighty Ruler; knowing that the privilege was his only and that he had no rival for it.

His feet decided to get closer to his Prized-achievement, a hand sought that soft long hair shining in the yellow lights -...or it was his eyes seeing things with delusions in mind.

He could just use a light push to shove that lithe body off the balcony... people would be too afraid of consequences to question his actions later, whether they found out his doing or just suspected it. Just a light push -the throne was already in his grasp, anyway. People saw him as the Ruler, anyway; he was the one controlling everything from the Palace to the last strings of the suburban fortresses, anyway...!

-just a light push.

-just a push...!

His other hand grabbed the trembling extended hand, the thick jacket he was wearing dampened the tapping sound; pushing it down with effort... a tear rolled down his cheek; his knees buckled, and he fell kneeling behind the lonely back... the swaying long locks teased his face, cool like mist by the dusk air, soft as feathers.

...his heart crumbled.

He rested his forehead on his **Master**'s back; yearning for a physical touch... the distance crushed him in that closeness. He wanted to own this person; all of him and not sharing a bit with the world! He was jealous of the Demon...! If his **Master** could be a little more Odin-ish, he'd tie his soul to this person's even without needing a Contract! But this person was this Kingdom's own... tied and alienated by its selfishness! -how he tinkered many times to just snatch him from his balcony-railing and leave this cursed kingdom to its demise...!

But that knowing-sincere smile always caught him in the spotlight, beckoning him to the sunny side from his darkened thoughts.

He loved this person with all his might!

"Is there something wrong, Treize?" the gentle tone almost sounded like surrendering.

The General smiled, closing his eyes and shook his head, feeling the brush of the soft blond hair with his movement, the warmth of the back seeped through the layers of clothes and hair. It was his bit of Haven...

"No. Everything is fine, Milliarde"

He felt his **Master**'s smile bloomed in his mind. "...I miss you too, Treize", came the gentle words, soothing like mental-medicine, more addictive than drugs.

The General smiled in resignation. He lost again-

...he swore to succeed next time, after he dealt with the lesser things... he didn't have to do it with these hands, anyway!

x - - - - - - - - x

Duo covered his head with the towel, like wearing a veil; the water dripped from his hair to the bathroom floor. His nervous toes clenched on and off at the tiles, eyes watching the small streams ran towards the drain hole.

"Duo, it's ready!"

"...yes, thank-you, Lieutenant."

Cail paused, he realized Duo had reverted to calling him by rank again. Not that he minded... it just made him a little lonely; or maybe it was him seeking for familiarity in places he shouldn't be in the first place. He nodded although the door blocked him, something weighed his mind but he didn't know how to voice it. He reminded himself about his task and place, and waited by the front door obligatorily.

Duo got out of the bathroom fully clothed. A long deep purple cloak covered his body and the hood hid his face; he dragged the excessive length on the floor as he walked. Cail widened his eyes in reflex at the sight, he instinctively realized the weight of this ordeal and he bowed to show his respect -or just hid his nervousness.

"Cail..." Duo called silently, making Cail to pause his hand that was pulling the door handle open. "It might be selfish of me, and I don't know whether you were consented to this or just being blackmailed by Treize..."

Cail blinked at Duo, he almost made a funny expression at the mention of Treize doing things by blackmail.

"I am grateful for your friendly nature; I can't thank-you enough for your help, whether you realize that you've helped me or not..." the hooded head bowed slowly. Cail opened his mouth to say something, this one sided conversation had beginning to sound like a farewell. "I have one thing to ask of you, if you don't mind."

Duo paused, Cail froze before whatever he was going to say made it to his throat...this had become more awkward with every second passed.

"I ask you..." Duo continued, "To please stay be my friend; for whatever happens after this?"

Cail closed his mouth and blinked again; _just that? Duo sure made it sound like it was good-bye_..., his mind thought. He nodded his answer and opened the door, Duo walked pass him without another word.

He headed towards the landing of the west end of the Palace, the only landing by the edge of the rocky cliff; he picked it for solitude. The guards to his chamber and the Lieutenant tailed him along, he left it to them to chase away whoever approached him in his way; he'd instructed to them to not speak with him after he exited his chamber, and they obliged nervously. He'd said, after this, he'd free them of their fear of him; the Lieutenant seemed like he wanted to object to that, thinking that Duo was going to ask Treize to relieve them of that task; but Duo's eyes held such finality in his resignation that he didn't dare to voice his mind.

They stopped by the double doors to the landing, Duo nodded once to cue them to leave him alone pass those doors. The guards stopped at respective distance behind him; the Lieutenant opened one of the doors for him, peeking outside to make sure one last time that everything was done as told. Duo ignored him and moved along, letting his cloak fell to the ground as he walked. He had a thin black veil covering his head and shoulders underneath the cloak, the ends of the veil seemed to be folded and held at his front by his joined hands.

There were exactly 188 candles stuck to the landing floor, spread forming a circle of pattern Duo had drawn in details, in a sealed envelope he pulled from his bag. So Cail knew that this was some effort Duo had anticipated even before he left the Covenant. It took him and his men almost 3 hours to prepare the set; he'd made sure everything was perfect, knowing Duo trusted him with his fate.

The candles at the nearest outer lines of the circle lighted by themselves as Duo got near; Cail gasped at the sight, his eyes glanced at Duo and the candles in turns and saw Duo paused on his way; he took 2 seconds to realize that Duo was waiting for him to close the door and leave him be. He bowed in haste and closed the door. The wind was still picking up its pace with the boiling black clouds rolling in the sky above; he was skeptical that anyone could lit the candles in that condition at first... before witnessing how the candles lit up by themselves.

The last surviving light of the dusk dimmed in the far away sky. For an unknown reason Cail's heart lurched down in his chest, feeling like something was slipping away from his grasp. He couldn't back away now that it had started. He could only wish that it was for the best... especially for Duo.

x - - - - - - - - x

Duo watched the last trail of light faded from the sky. The scenery in front of him was the gaping black wound of the earth that marked the missing of the spring that was once a lake. His mind supplied him with the memory of the remains of the Maxwell's headquarter hidden in the depth of it; he shivered and chased it away from his head -he had to be 'empty' for this to work, or it would be a failure with vengeance. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Duo thought of a plain darkness where he used to find solitude in his mind.

Not oppressed by the light.

Not oppressed by the world.

He thinned his lips, and let the neatly folded ends of the veil fell from his grips. The winds instantly picked the thin cloth, playing with the material as it flapped and swayed behind Duo's body. A black blindfold secured the veil to his head; he didn't need to see with his eyes in darkness. The thin black ceremonial long-dress tied with layers of sash from his hips up; a neck-piece of crochet-work adorned his upper body, covering his chest and shoulders -the outfit was originally for maidens of rituals, of such ceremonies where it was not permitted for men's eyes to see; because the maidens were topless under that neck-piece, and the thin long-dress didn't provide much cover for their lower bodies ...long ago, such rituals were as a part of sacrificial ceremony to the gods; the maidens' eyes would be denied of light for the rest of their lives.

Duo took it as an escape route...

Slowly walking towards the candles array, hearing the candles lit up in a wave from near him until the fire formed a full circled pattern; disregarding the candles in front of him as he walked forward, knowing the dress caught fire... he started with a little leap, the bells around his ankles chimed when he landed on his toes; another longer leap while he turned his body in mid air, landed with one foot and swung the other leg to turn around on his pivot. Catching the end of the veil with a hand and spread it at his side... bowed slowly; hit the sole of his foot to the floor for another chime, lifted that foot while bending his knees, curving his waist and torso, lifting his free hand above his head -made a gentle flowing curve to the end of his fingers.

Another chime.

A wider leap.

Another curve.

The winds provided the music for his dance, the darkness was his stage; he could forget about the fire of the candles and its heat burning his clothes.

More turns, wider curves; the fire left liquid traces in the air from his movements.

He could drown in darkness...

x - - - - - - - - x

The **Master** smiled to the night, the brewing storm accompanied him on his balcony railing.

"...a black butterfly dancing its life away in fire... beautiful and sad." He breathed; his eyes clouded by shadow... his always reliable Treize had left him alone. His back felt cold.

He was alone.

x - - - - - - - - x

Another black veil swayed in the strong wind.

The lady in white dress stood on the tip of a pointy rock on the unoccupied other side of the gaping earth, her eyes hidden by her thick black veil stared at the flickering lights on the far away landing. Her face was devoid of emotion.

-a sigh.

Relena threw the glass in her hand to the wall; the crashing sounds only mocked her anger. She hissed and took some heavy breaths, then threw some more things that were in her reach.

"-AAAAAAGHH!", screaming her frustration out... knowing that she was witnessing the luxury she couldn't have.

x - - - - - - - - x

The General Treize smiled ruefully as he climbed his bed; the bundle at the head corner gasped and hissed; it made him laughed haughtily.

"Your master is so pathetic!" he started, and laughed satisfactorily when a clawed hand tried to swat at his face, -again; he caught it midway easily, pulling the hand and pinned it to the bed, instantly looming over the frightened bundle; knowing full well that the wide eyes could see him through the blanket used as cover by that creature. A series of screeches and hisses tried to drive him away in panic. It only baited him more to the game-

x - - - - - - - - x

Odin stirred with a surprised jerk; he didn't realize it when he'd fallen asleep. He frowned as he felt his inner clock; some time passed midnight, he sighed and closed his eyes again -and opened them again instantly, staring at a pair of dim blue eyes staring at him from his chest.

"...Heero." his tone was half surprised and half relieved, almost a question -that he himself didn't know why it had sounded like that...

The droopy eyes of his demon were glazed lightly, giving a thin shade of grey on them; almost liquid color... Odin blinked and realized what it was; the chill had woken him up.

Heero didn't react; the night air felt bereft...

-_it felt almost sad_...; he closed his eyes slowly, the liquid shade pressed to his long lashes, forced to cling on their ends. He didn't move again after that.

Odin almost afraid to check those glistening liquid with his fingers. His demon never cried...! His hand paused midway, doubting his safe line; he pulled the thick blanket to cover his demon's head, and rested his idle hand on top of the covered back. Knowing he wouldn't feel warmth from that small body seeping through the material.

Sleep denied him until morning comes; just as his demon denied him anymore movement through the night. He probably deserved more than that as punishment for his negligence, he thought. His chest felt tight.

It felt almost sad.

x - - - - - - - - x

"...why did you choose me?" Odin asked silently, instinctively knowing that his demon was 'there' at the present. The morning felt warmer with clear sky after the passing dark clouds of that night. It took over 10 minutes until the demon opened his eye a slit; Odin waited in patience... he didn't have any more choice, after all.

Another minute until his demon blinked and opened both eyes.

Another 10 minutes until his closed lips thinned.

". . . hm?" 5 more minutes to that small voice.

Odin stared the demon's eyes intently. The demon blinked slowly and shifted his gaze to stare back at his.

"...because I was half-beast?" Odin asked with an almost disappointed tone. "Because I had more life-force than humans..?"

"Because I was 'food'?"

"Because I separated myself from the politics?"

"Because I was tied?"

An impatient pause-

"-why?" Odin asked with finality.

The demon blinked a couple more times sleepily; there was a dismissal flashed in his eyes, he closed his heavy eyelids again almost uncaringly.

Odin waited over 15 minutes after that; not getting any answer... he thought the demon left him to sleep again. He sighed and closed his eyes too; the tasks from the **Master** haunted him again... severe Contract... kill Treize...-

It probably followed with 'prepare for war' later...

"...you took off the blood-thread..." the mumbled voice broke his thought. Odin opened his eyes widely, almost afraid that he imagined hearing it.

Heero didn't move on his chest; the morning breeze played with his brown locks. He knew Odin held his breath, waiting for him to speak again; the man's large hand was closing to his cheek... he turned his face to hide it with the blanket.

Odin stiffened.

The demon could hear that his heart skipped a bit ...his head lied on the man's chest, after all.

"...you cared enough that the thread was hurting me..." he mumbled under the blanket, timidly. "You cared enough for me..."

The last sentence was almost inaudible, but Odin could hear it perfectly. He widened his eyes at the admission. All these years he never even tinkered with the idea that the demon was seeking protection from him...!

Odin gasped and hugged the small body from above the thick blanket.

-ah; but he did seek his protection...! The realization almost broke his heart.

-why now...?

-why didn't he realize it sooner?

'_you should be worrying more about his heart, not his body... Demons are operating on their feelings more than food, especially the dead ones_'- Lui and the-siblings inside him had said it that one time.

x - - - - - - - - x

Heero was sitting by the bed side, already dressed minus his boots. He was wearing his generic Palace attire, long-sleeved jacket with high collar and matching pants, all in white. The Kingdom's crest pinned under his collar, like a pendant. The matching shoes should be indoor boots, also in white, which at the present were taken hostage by his owner.

"Don't be a kid, give me my shoes." He protested flatly.

The man harrumphed with his battle-pout intact, getting ready with his gears while clasping the white boots under one arm; tapping the sole of his own boot after wearing it as if mocking his demon's demand.

"I can go bare-footed." He warned his owner, who turned his face at him with narrowed eyes, giving his own warning.

Heero drooped his eyes as if bored; only saying 'you cared enough for me' brought this... he'd known it since the beginning, because Odin always had a child's heart he could see clear like crystal, one of the reason he surrendered his person to him... one of the reason why he never gave such admission to Odin. Now his status had just degraded from 'demon-pet' to 'fragile-pet'... the man probably saw him like a caged bird who cannot fly anymore since his wings were never trained to fly.

Well... his wings couldn't fly, because they're not meant to fly! Heero narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Stay!" Odin barked pointing a finger at the demon.

"I need to guard your back!" he insisted, earning a popping artery on the man's temple, and a teeth-baring.

"I can guard my own back!" Odin snarled; probably feeling insulted being reminded about that incident with that poisoned knife.

"You can, but I need to!" the demon pressed, something flashed in his eyes... something alarming; Odin thought he probably had sensed it that the **Master** ordered him to severe the Contract, and he was feeling insulted that the demon didn't trust him enough about how he took his importance despite it being the King's order or not.

"You think I'd run away, or something?!" Odin tested angrily.

"Would you?" Heero's eyes were sharp and penetrating, with the deepest frown he'd ever made.

Odin tsk-ed; he'd thought about doing that since last night, over and over and over as if getting lost in a loop-hole; he wanted to just run away and take his demon to safety, away from this Kingdom and _that_ kingdom and the promise of war; but that's impossible... even Treize knew that it's impossible now; that he was tied to be loyal to the Kingdom -or King; that he couldn't blackmail the General with 'turning mercenary' anymore. That he couldn't run away with or without the demon, anyway...

Heero sparred with Odin's darkened stare. "If you're not, give me my shoes. You don't want to be late to the practice court after taking absence for so long." He reasoned stubbornly.

"I don't give a damn about some soldiers waiting for me in the practice court! They can practice themselves better without me yelling their asses off!" Odin growled; which was true... him not being there probably made their practice more efficient, since they'd be more unfocused with Odin's yelling instead -moreover with the demon present, evenmore after they knew what the demon could do as in battle.

"I care of being late! People say that I made you late...!" Heero accused.

Odin blinked at that, almost losing his fire; knowing what people implied in those accusations.

"It's you who's too childish and make yourself late! Give me my shoes or I'll file complaint to Treize-"

"NOOOO!" Odin roared at the mention of Treize. Heero was taken aback that he had an almost shocked look on his face, it made Odin felt almost guilty. "I forbid you to see Treize without my presence!" Odin ordered, knowing that for Heero's standard it was the expression of him feeling dejected; he probably thought it was because he went to Treize the last time about the bedding too.

But Treize had his assets... things that even he didn't know, things that the General used to do his dirty works throughout the land; even more with that cat-Familiar of his, looking timid and cute and hide its deadliness perfectly. Odin didn't doubt Treize's loyalty; if Treize knew the **Master** wanted him dead, he would even sort to killing himself to obey... but it's a different story with his-cat; that Familiar wouldn't allow it. Why else would the **Master** order him to kill Treize? It might not be about Treize, it's about someone who could be on par with that-cat.

And the order was to sever the Contract, too. With the terms, severing the Contract is as easily as hurting the demon in their land. If what the **Master** meant was to sacrifice Heero to the-cat while the man was to kill Treize...?

. . . but he couldn't disobey the King's order...! Odin shuddered. -and realized he was staring at Heero's hung head; the demon might have conceded to his order while feeling dejected... although that was not what he meant! Odin growled exasperatedly and left.

Heero stared at the floor and shut off his senses; if Odin didn't want him around, then where else could he be? If he was to stay in Odin's chamber and not allowed to get out, what's the difference with being caged? -again, like back then... might as well put him in a tomb and let him rest-

Odin knelt in front of him and put the white boot on his right foot. Heero looked up at him in surprise; the man didn't need to see his face to know the expression he made, he proceeded with the other boot, and then rushed to the doors without a word.

Heero blinked staring at his feet, then to the closed doors where Odin exited. So Odin conceded to let him follow the man...! He sprang to his feet and almost ran to the doors, only to collide with Odin's back as he stood frozen outside. He slapped the man's back in protest, one hand at his face; a normal human might have sported a nosebleed because of it.

The door panel closed behind the demon's back; Odin turned around and pushed his back flat to it, a serious frown shaded his face. Heero looked up at him with uncertainty at the unusual gesture.

Odin let out his heavy sigh in a blow of breath, and knelt down; his head was still higher than Heero's, but the man could stare at him face to face without his height dominating their conversation. He pulled out a fur-hat from under his jacket; apparently he left Heero back then to retrieve it from his closet, before putting the white boots on the demon's feet. The color was bright deep red, like the color of blood... perhaps a little darker, like the color of congealing blood. The man put it on the brown head carefully, minding the neatly folded wings so as to not hurt them accidentally. -but this late in the game...

"I don't need it to cover my wings." He said levelly, staring at the man's eyes concentrating with his work. He lost the white one that Odin made for him, he didn't ask for another... because of the poor animals slain just to make him that hat that didn't really serve much purpose wore in the Palace, and all that.

"It's from our General..." Odin breathed, "His 'thank-you for bringing my cousin back in one piece -and I heard you lost your hat in the way, but it's not like I feel responsible about that, I just happened to find a nice material and didn't have the right occasion to give it to you -thank Gods you didn't jeopardize the Contract while having trouble on your way back, but I won't admit it's my fault' gift...! Although he only shortened it to 'this is a token of appreciation for Heero' gift."

Heero blinked at the length, he almost smiled. Odin caught the softened look in his eyes, and the demon averted his gaze; knowing Odin stared at him with such conviction... it's too much to look at this up close.

Odin seemed to know what he felt, might as well surrender to the moment, he thought to himself and crushed his demon in a tight hug, sandwiched between his muscular body and the sturdy door; Heero thought of protesting but refrained when he felt the man's arms pressing his body on and off, as if feeling just a tight hug still wasn't enough.

"...?" he tried turning his head to look at Odin's face, but the man's head was on his shoulder so he couldn't. Odin felt the small movement, felt the brush of the fur-hat to his ear; breathed in the demon's scent deeply, chuckled when his demon stiffened by that little act... while the demon could draped his naked body on top of him without restriction, too.

"Hmmmh..." Odin smiled to himself, closing his eyes savoring the unearthly scent filling his senses. "I forgot that you're a bride I stole from your Deity..."

Heero blinked at the wall of the corridor in front of him; what's this after 10 years? Odin knew Heero thought that...

"...I'm not a damsel in distress, Odin." He said levelly. Almost apathetically, it made Odin tightened his arms.

"No..." a wider smile, "...you're a sacred-maiden." He grunted out because the force of the hug. It was meant as a compliment, but Heero blinked in incomprehension; Odin chuckled picturing his almost-baffled look, his senses picked some discreet yelps and frightened steps scurrying from both ends of the corridor, notably at the junctions.

Heero glanced at a guard who so happened caught his eyes in a flash as he hurried back towards the way he came from. "You should do this inside..." he criticized levelly.

"Let them see." Odin said uncaringly.

A baffled air hung around the demon, Odin smelled it like a predator smelled its prey; the demon probably thought that he was being contradictory to himself, with the way he'd spoken his order inside the chamber. Ahh... if only the demon knew what kind of contradiction storming his mind, right now. He gave one last pressure to his embracing arms, discreetly grateful that his demon didn't need to breathe -he realized how much strength he was using, any other human might have fainted by now; releasing his body and held him still by the upper arms, looking at his blue eyes filled with unspoken question.

Then used his right hand to stroke at the pale cheek; "You don't have to look so caught... you know I care." He said gently; ignoring a couple other high-pitched yelps and the sounds of running steps from the junction, -apparently some ones who came their way thought to just watch and wait for the scene with the demonic Commander to pass so that they could continue walking; they're probably regretting their patience by now.

But was this act considered obscene that they'd flee? Heero mulled at it and decided it wasn't because of him being a demon, but because Odin being un-Odin-ish right now.

"It's disgusting. Stop it." Heero criticized sternly.

Odin drooped his eyelids; he didn't look angry yet. "What is...? Doing this outside?"

"Treating me like a maiden." Heero protested.

Odin paused, and thought; he admitted it was too late for dramatized intimacy now... and besides, Heero had even more Spartan life style than him. 'Something that's not needed is not needed', that kind of style; but in that sense, it's not him using the demon like everybody else thought; it's the demon using him, right?

"If you understand, proceed to the practice court without that disgusting melancholic smile on your face." The demon demanded flatly.

Odin stilled, while staring with almost a dejected look, but admitted that he'd probably crossed a line somewhere. -but was it really disgusting? ...his smile...?

...maybe it's not compatible with his muscled body?

Or with his face...?

But the smile was on his face...

. . . then, it's his face disgusting...?

"Move...!" Heero frowned when Odin didn't move a muscle. He admitted to himself that he probably shouldn't have said it with words so harshly just to escape the awkwardness, but he didn't like it that Odin didn't care about others watching. He didn't like to stand out more than he already had to.

x - - - - - - - - x

Now... it seemed he'd really crossed the man's line...!

Heero tried to walk with a straight face... although his eyelids felt heavy they drooped unintendedly, and why did his brows couldn't be un-frown-ed?

Odin chuckled throatily, his grin had pulled to a leer. So Odin minded it about that disgusting-thing, but the man should know it too that he minded it about being treated like a maiden. Why _that_ all of a sudden?! Only because he admitted that he took Odin's care into consideration? Did it really have any deeper meaning than that...? And he thought Odin was the soldier type, not the lover type... -uuugh, thinking it in words already sent chills down his spine!

Or was it just Odin being a bully...?

That's why they're heading to the practice court, right? Just bully those men, there...!

Odin chuckled deeper and hoarser, knowing what bothered his demon; it made Heero wondered whether he meant to laugh or to snarl. Adding to his enjoyment, Odin pulled the small shoulder he had under his arm and flattened the lithe body to his side. Almost letting out a snicker when his demon involuntarily let out a protesting moan.

The smaller hands tried to push and separated their bodies apart, his brows were knitted so deep they almost looked like being tangled. He almost looked too cute for Odin right now; the man couldn't help himself and swoop his demon from his feet with that circling arm, and grinned toothy-ly at the -almost- flushed face of his demon when their faces were aligned because of the arrangement.

Heero hit him on reflex.

"...uungh-..." Odin complained with a not so moan or growl, but the playful light was still there in his eyes. "Why? Are you embarassed arriving like this at the pratice court?" he purred.

Ah! Heero knew it... so this was payback for insisting to come along and calling his smile disgusting?

"HAAHHAHHAHAHAAHAAHH!" Odin laughed outright at the expression his demon was making, although his demon didn't seem to realize how endearing it was. Odin being Odin decided to dare the devil more and tasted a lick at his demon's chin.

-of which earned him a knee-kick at his own chin.

"-...owwwhhhh...!" this time he moaned and groaned at the same time, facing the ceiling of the corridor, trying to chase away the fireworks that decided to flare behind his eyelids. Heero was walking away so fast his steps could par with a running human. Odin thought he'd probably teased his demon too far...

"Heero, wait! I'm just being playful...!" he said levelly, a touch of joy still colored his tone; knowing his demon could hear him. Snorted once, and swung his legs to chase after the fleeing demon.

"-WAAHH!" a surprised yelp stopped his demon at the junction; and Odin had only moved two wide strides to chase him too. A wavy brunette hair flowed as the wind hit them from the open corridor of the long balcony; Odin knew whose it was even before he managed a glimpse of the person.

"I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry-!" the clear voice said in remorse; the almost fragile looking hands holding his demon's upper arms... the purple bright eyes shining like gemstones; the black attire.

Odin almost hissed outright, but the look on that boy's face stunned him to stop his strides; that look... that mesmerized burden-free look on that pretty face... almost making him looked angelic with shimmering air around him... like a totally different person-

"...Hello!" Duo said after he recovered from his short-lived surprised, looking openly at the demon's face with a gentle smile and light flush on his cheeks. "Are you an attaché for the Demons? I didn't know there's someone working that job here in the Palace...!" he smiled wider, "Maybe those rumors about war going to start again are just rumors, then. Treize shouldn't be so stressed about it...!" he commented off-handedly.

The demon blinked at the open face.

"Oh!" Duo realized what he was doing and pulled his hands, slapped them to his hips several times in hands-cleaning gesture, and presented his right hand to shake. "I'm Duo. Nice to meet you!" he beamed.

The demon stared at his open face.

Duo widened his smile inviting the demon to a handshake he's patiently waiting.

The demon stared at him...

x - - - - - - - - x

x - - - - - - - - x

**thanx for reading -and waiting n_n**

_saru's note_:

thank-you for patiently waiting for this fic; saru just finished the long-overdue comics… OTL -oh, better not tell about the details of the process-

anyway; this chapter was stretched for so long of time, so saru added more; so this one is actually the plot for two chapters… you'd probably notice the difference of the atmosphere of the storytelling… but thinking you wouldn't like too steep a cliffhanger too…

oh yes, saru didn't have dictionary for the half-end of the fic, saru is minding about Frankfurt event this year, saru is stressed about the royalty payment and its tax and the tax annual report, saru is brewing another comic-concept just because saru don't have time to finish all those things -as if saru is not stressed enough as it is, and more stress=more concept=more stress… it's the devil's circle-, saru is happy and unhappy at the same time (the graphic made concerning spikes lately -need company to keep safe)… saru is having a heated argument over vit.C with Oni-tan, saru got reprimanded by cousin just because saru like listening that song about a dead sinden (Sundanese traditional singer) from the singer who claim that she could speak with ghosts and that the sinden-lyrics were really the dead-sinden's song…just because saru got more incidents lately with those-things? Uuuh…do you see any correlation in that? -saru is having self-justification because saru like that song a lot… and saru avoided the crematorium too this Tuesday- just for prevention… and you probably wouldn't read this note anyway. Okay, everything is in order.

Oh, about self-calling, if anyone ever wondering…  
>In Indonesian, there's no 3rd person speech pattern. We don't use the difference of 'do' and 'does'. And there's also no gender difference in 'heshe'. And we don't say 'you' to our parents, we call them as the noun 'mom'/'dad', or grandparents, or people older than the person speaking; using 'you' in the speech to call them is considered impolite, even to strangers. So does saying self's name, or sibling's name/noun. Saying self's name is usually to emphasize endearment, or as in spoilt way, or intimate…or just plain habit. So we don't call our own names as if we are seeing ourselves as another person/3rd person, the grammatical pattern just doesn't translate into English. Saru don't know the details but it seemed many Asian languages have the same pattern…?


	26. Chapter 26

**Another -2 february '15**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: probably you'd think 'eeehh? So what are those chapters before this for?' …or not…?_

**chapter 26**

Sunshine streamed through the crisscrossing bars of his room's window; Duo moaned as he stirred from his good sleep with a smile, stretching his body on the bed and let out a deep contented sigh before opening his eyes. The journey to the Palace was uneventful, but it was still a long journey on a horse back; he thought he was going to wake up sore and stiff, but his body felt rested and his Nightmare didn't make a close approach that night too.

It's a good day, all in all.

"Good morning." A man's voice said from the chair by the double doors; Duo almost jumped at the suddenness.

"G…good morning…" he answered good-naturedly, blinking at the man watching him with a somber face. He sat up feeling awkward and tried a smile at the man; he didn't know that Treize put a guard inside his chamber… the whole night too?

"Umm… I'm sorry for- …uhh…" he tried but didn't really know what to say.

"How are you feeling?" the man asked with a frown.

Duo blinked and looked down at his laps, checking his limbs for sore muscle, grateful that he didn't feel any… only a light uneasiness on his soles that not yet classified as sore; it's probably due to the long period of stuffing his feet inside his boots in the journey, he thought.

He looked at the man, "I'm fine, thank-you."

The black haired man's frown twitched a little at his words; Duo thought it was because of him trying to act polite… maybe the man thought being related to the General should make him more demanding?

A heavy silence inserted itself for a long moment, Duo fidgeted in his bed, feeling uneasy with the man's scrutiny. He thought to engage the man in a conversation, perhaps about Treize -or maybe not… perhaps about the man's task, perhaps about the Palace…?

Oh, okay; let's start with the right procession, he thought. "Umm… I'm Duo; Treize had probably told you my name. You are…?" he tried an open face, eyes wide with a polite smile intact on his lips.

He blinked in incomprehension when the man's eyes widened in alarm and realization as he froze on his chair.

x - - - - - - - - x

The demon stared him…

Duo blinked looking down at his offered right hand and back up to the demon's face. He chuckled to himself; "…is this not polite in your culture? I'm sorry for that…" he pulled his hand and nodded once, instead.

The demon blinked at him. Duo chuckled again staring at his face, he thought that it was probably too sudden for the demon and he was looking almost baffled too that Duo almost felt remorse for his action…

"I'm new here, so I might as well greet you and ask for your guidance living here? Is that not okay? I'm-…" Duo gasped and glanced behind his back, hurriedly stepped behind the demon's back and hid himself behind the wall. "…I'm sorry; I'm trying to avoid my guardian right now. If you could please direct him somewhere else when he asks you about me…?" he said with a small voice.

-a large hand grabbed his head from behind…

A man came running from the inner junction, looking left and right when he paused at the intersection… widening his eyes when he saw the demon standing at the junction at the balcony corridor; he ran towards the demon and bowed once, stepping pass him knowing he'd find that notable someone not far away.

"Commander Odin, Sir." He greeted when he found Odin a couple steps into the right turn on the balcony; "This might sounded odd; but did you see the Mas-… the young master around here? I'm trying to keep him away from the Dignitaries as per General Treize's order… Umm, and he's still not familiar with the Palace…" Cail averted his gaze when Odin's brows arched up at his last reasoning. He cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable with the attention he received and thought that he should be looking for him before Duo went too far away. "…I'm sorry for bothering you; I'll find him right away." He took a step back and bowed again to the demon and turned to the opposite balcony corridor, with Odin's and the demon's eyes on him until he turned in another intersection.

There was about 10 seconds of silence.

-"Fwaahh…!" a dramatized sighed; "So Treize really told him to keep me in my room…?!" The brunette head poked from behind Odin's large body. "He already left…?" he asked peering to where the Lieutenant gone. Duo paused when he felt Odin's head turned to him, and the demon's eyes gazed at him from the ends of his beautiful eyes.

"Ahh! Thank-you for hiding me! I'm sorry for the late introduction; my name is Duo-…!" he stepped to the front of Odin and bowed politely.

"You are Treize's cousin?" Odin asked. Duo beamed and opened his mouth to confirm- "The cousin that he used to speak of when he was still young…?" Odin beat him to it.

Duo's smile somewhat froze awkwardly; "uhh… yes, but… He's still young even now…?"

"HHAAHAHAHAAH!" Odin guffawed and gave Duo's back a couple of -hard- pats. "Aaah… so it's you in person!" Odin grinned.

"…uuuh… nice to meet you…, Commanderrr-…?" Duo's smile turned uneven trying to not grimace by the strength the man put into those -probably friendly- pats.

"Odinnh…!" Odin purred with a smirk, somehow it almost sounded like half-growling.

Duo's eyes widened; "Oh, so it's you. I've heard about you… even in the Covenant!" he smiled wider.

"Really…?" Odin asked.

Duo nodded vigorously, "One of the Earthly Mothers used to tell me stories about you…!" he said with a smile, somehow looking proud… or maybe happy to meet someone he had familiarization with in a place like the Palace, since he only knew Treize there.

Odin gave him a frown; "…do I know someone in the covenant?"

"Ah!" Duo made a caught look and pulled Odin by the sleeve to whisper in his ear. "…it's Treize's mother…?" he asked with innocent eyes conveying the understanding to stay silent about that info.

"…oh." Odin arched his brows with a generic look. "I see." He continued as an afterthought in closing tone.

Duo chuckled.

"So, what are you doing by yourself?" Odin diverted the subject.

"Ohh…" Duo made a caught look again, looking hesitant. "I'm… not sure, but… I'm looking for Treize to ask him about something…"

A flash of something sparked in the man's eyes, Heero recognized it by experience; he thought he should probably interfere now before Odin had something troublesome to play with.

"Treize is not available?" Odin asked.

"I… don't know. That's why I'm searching for him." Duo admitted.

"Can't you ask someone around you?" Odin asked again.

Duo fidgeted. "Well… The Lieutenant only provided me information that he was told by Treize himself to keep me in my room until further notice in person. Is there something urgent, or something else…?"

-or something else… Odin narrowed his eyes while Duo stared at his fidgeting fingers, then reined in his soldier-wards again so that the boy didn't suspect him. His demon was staring at him with wide alarmed eyes, the man glanced at him to give the cue that he could be trustworthy for the time being. The demon blinked at him and didn't do anything, Odin grinned to answer that.

"He probably had some matters to see; are you going to go to his study? I could walk you there." Odin offered levelly.

Duo looked up at him with a pleasant surprise, but it dimmed when he thought about something in his mind. "…probably… he minded it about me insisting to go for an outing yesterday…"

"Yesterday?" Odin arched his brows again.

"Ohh… I just arrived here yesterday; which reminds me… I saw you two at the gate yesterday, but I only saw your backs; that was a Sauria, right? The black-one you're riding?" Duo turned to the demon with a beaming smile.

The demon blinked at him; Duo waited patiently for answer which never came, his smile fell a bit.

"An outing? You want to go for sightseeing in the City?" Odin tested, already knowing Duo was talking about _that_ outing.

"City? No, Sir; I was asking to see something around some rural areas…" Duo smiled politely turning back to Odin.

"Ah! There are reports about beast attacks in alarming rates lately. Maybe your cousin minds it and intending to prepare some safe routes for you before letting you go?" Odin tried.

"Hmm… probably so…" Duo conceded, and looking somewhat at a lost afterwards.

"So are you still going to his study now?" Odin asked good-naturedly.

"Ohh…" Duo looked caught and gave a hesitant smile, "I probably shouldn't bother him when he's busy with his work…?" His eyes were wide and lost.

"But you don't want to be cooped up in your room, either, after going this far, right?" Odin grinned.

Duo chuckled at him nervously.

Odin snorted. "If you don't have anywhere else to go to, why don't you come along and see the Palace around?"

Duo widened his eyes and brightened; "I can…?" he looked between Odin and the demon; realizing that the demon sporting an alarmed expression on his stoic face, not looking back at him. And Duo's smile fell; "…I… probably shouldn't bother your works…"

"It's okay!" Odin circled an arm around the boy's shoulder, somewhat awkward with their height differences. "My work is not that strict, anyway…!" he smoothened; already pulling the boy along to walk with him. "Oh, you can call him Heero." Odin added when Duo looked like he was about to say something to get away from that parade; and it worked like magic. Duo surrendered to him just like that.

"Oh… Good to know you, Mr. Heero." Duo said passed Odin's hand on his shoulder.

"Heero." The demon corrected levelly, following Odin that somehow got his hand on Duo and didn't seem like intending to let him slip away.

"Heero, then." Duo smiled, happy that the demon actually spoke at him after their weird encounter. "You can call me Duo."

The demon stared at him for some time; his face didn't betray any feelings or thoughts out. Duo thought that probably demons were like that; he smiled his encouragement.

"…Duo." The demon called silently like whispering it to himself; the soft voice made Duo shivered… he even forgot about the man's hand still draped on his shoulder that might felt his shivers there.

Duo chuckled pleasantly in return.

x - - - - - - - - x

-funny that the intersection where they collided was that one intersection where Duo yelled his abhorrent at Relena's words that one time… but only the demon realized it now.

He'd tried a lick with his power at the boy when he was speaking with Odin just now; and knowing that Duo's _hands_ were not anywhere close to the surface… like they were never awakened at all. There was also no trace of his light-blessing he used to counter Duo and his cursed-seal back then on the Palace Court.

It's like this Duo and the Duo back then were two different people.

-or not… more like this Duo was _the Duo_ that was from that-time before encountering them in the middle of the beasts ambush. The one that had yet left the Palace after he arrived, to be more exact.

Like maybe… the Duo he'd met and had spent the journey back to the Palace with was erased, not just his memory about that span of time…

-ahh… so that's why the night felt bereft…!

Heero almost stopped on his trek; his eyes dimmed and he shut off his surroundings. He depended on his reflex to follow Odin and the boy still engaged in some trivial chat.

* * *

><p>. . . . . . Treize shouldn't be that paranoid about Duo's insanity. The boy could erase his corrupted-self just like cutting off bad leaves of a flower plant just like it was natural. Maybe the reason why he hadn't constructed his soul-armor too…<p>

That's what felt off when he realized it about Duo's being that morning in the woods, after they played dead for that lurking Maggart… the reason why this boy didn't feel human… He's only bits left of what was a complete human boy, waiting to crumble and to be soiled by his own dark-sides… and to lessen his self even more.

x - - - - - - - - x

-it felt almost sad…

* * *

><p>Cail took a deep breath and sigh it out in frustration.<p>

Duo being Duo could slip away like thin air from people when he's composed; he realized with grim thought, knowing that the him now was not anyone familiar to the boy, and therefor was not someone he'd trust, -yet… no matter what he'd say or do now; more so with his suspicion about the General.

Aaahh… how could he say it to Duo without making him even more guarded about him and his task? -Cail's face fell when he thought that Duo probably had ruled him out as the bad party, or someone he should escape from.

The Lieutenant tsk-ed, and turned on another junction in haste. He was already outside the Palace buildings, now facing the gardens and subconsciously intending to search Duo in the solitary seats or that one swing he'd found him once. But a small voice in his mind told him that Duo wouldn't be there, he wouldn't seek solitude because he didn't need it right now. With a sinking feeling Cail hoped that Duo had yet found himself in some greedy Dignitaries' clutches… because the Duo now hadn't realized it that they knew what he could do with his Maxwell aptitude.

-uuugh… made that Duo himself still didn't know what he could do with his Maxwell aptitude! -Cail groaned to himself, slapping his palm on his forehead and pulled it down giving enough pressure to his face as if he could peel off his tiredness away. He almost didn't sleep last night, waiting for Duo to return in his chamber; nodded off by midnight and went to the bathroom to wash his face; and found Duo sleeping contentedly when he got back in Duo's room. After that he stayed up until morning, fearing something that needed his full attention happened. Only to find Duo's memory had changed in the morning… -_why now when the General is being suspicious, too?!_ His mind complained. Gravely aware that if ever he had to confront the General in front of Duo now, that Duo would instantly defend his cousin's side instead of him… without even giving the circumstance a thought or a doubt about his cousin Treize.

Cail sighed again, deeper. He probably shouldn't poke his nose in that affair about the General too, his mind thought… but he'd promised Duo that he'd still be his friend afterwards. In the outside he only nodded his answer, but inside he was promising himself to it. And he'd grown to care about Duo too. He'd failed once with the beasts ambush in that outing, after all-

Duo was right about troubles loved him, he complained.

And Duo's luck seemed to follow him now, as the Lieutenant instantly backed away and stood behind a wall, looking wide-eyed at said General talking at a corner behind trees… with apparently… -he couldn't believe his eyes…

"…is that Rockefeller?!" he said in his heart; "…what are they doing… looking like old friends that just met each other after so long…?!" He hid himself when he witnessed the two people hugged in friendly gesture and even gave friendly pats on each other's backs. Counting to 3, he peeked again; turning his ears to hear their hushed conversation.

…_tonight…  
>All present…<br>Will be continued as planned…  
><em>…_waiting for so long…_

Cail frowned; eavesdropping on people from that distance was not easy, he only made a few words while half-reading the lips; and while the General had his back on him too. But, ohh, he'd never seen Rockefeller's face making that kind of happy expression before; with wide smile, beaming eyes and… -flushed cheeks? He almost shivered at the bizarreness.

There was one of The Sixth standing guard behind the General's back; he seemed to feel something amiss and turned his head to his hiding place. Cail pulled his body behind the wall, carefully easing his weight down and squatted; minding the noises he made while doing that, even if it's just the rustle of his clothes brushed against each other. He missed that Sixth's eyes shone in inhuman way looking at his direction from the eye-gap of his full-faced helmet…

* * *

><p>"Ooohh! It's so wide here…!" Duo appreciated loudly; earning attention from the practicing soldiers on the court. Duo realized his action and bowed nervously to the people there.<p>

Odin smirked, licking his lips and took a deep breath. "ODIN IS HEEERRE! EVERYONE PUT ON ALL YOUR GEARS AND RUN 10 LAPS!" he roared.

"WHAAAAATT?!" came the collective complaint from all around the huge court.

"STOP COMPLAINING AND START RUNNING!" Odin pulled a bard from the weapon stationery near him and swung it wide making loud swishing sound; challenging curious eyes that directed at him, or his demon and him… or his demon and him AND the-last Maxwell? -for arriving together in somewhat friendly atmosphere too. And left his two tails on the side of the stone court, stepped down the stairs around the court 3 stairs at a time showing his dominance to the soldiers with his physical build, and leered with the bard rested on his shoulder at the side of the circling trek.

"Show off." Heero breathed to comment on his owner's antics. Duo gasped somewhere at his side; probably thinking to himself that Heero could actually talk by himself; and the demon regretted that he wasn't in the place where he could ignore the boy's presence. What was Odin thinking playing with this boy in his current condition…? He promised himself he wouldn't be dragged along when Treize actually objecting about their closeness with his precious cousin, and all.

"Uuhh… so, …you're not joining the practice here?"

And duo being Duo would want to engage him in small talks, Heero complained. He ignored the boy for now; watching Odin chased some low ranks to make them run faster. "…that's cheating! Your legs could step wider to run faster!" and was amazed when a young soldier was brave enough to complain defiantly, and ran in fright when Odin actually roared like a lion at him and his friends…-now scattering around in a not so practice-like run anymore. He almost smiled at the childish scene, knowing that despite their fear, the soldiers actually liked teasing Odin. -ah, that's right… it was because of him that the soldiers had prejudice against the man. Heero stifled a sigh and clamped his lips in a stoic manner. Landing to the presence of the boy near him giving him an open wide stare; he felt like trapped now.

"So, what kind of work does an attaché do? …not that I'm probing or anything…" Duo tried again.

Heero ignored him.

"So, what do you do in your spare time?" Duo continued as if he'd heard the answer to his first question as if they were engaged in a two-ways conversation.

"Hmm…" Duo hummed as if thinking, "I heard the night market in the King's City had such festivities on weekends; I was hoping I could go there if someone would show me around…"

"Well, there are not many things to do in the Covenant. I didn't have many chances to go outside, either…" Duo continued. "Although I like it when travelers camped near the Covenant and brought news from faraway lands. Wahh! It sounds like I was living like a sage or something…! Ahaahahahaa…"

So Duo pretended to have conversation with him…? Heero thought; and realized that he actually didn't ignore the boy, he was just not answering.

"Do you have many friends here…?" Duo asked him again, in a somewhat understanding tone.

He chuckled; "…me neither. But I feel happy about it."

"So, can I be your friend? I'd be very happy if I could…"

Duo chuckled merrier, "…if you change your mind you can start speaking to me; I won't have grudge if you don't, though."

"Aah…" Duo looked like he was reminded about something; "I'm sorry about what happened in the corridor…! I didn't mean to make you feel insulted or anything…"

Heero didn't think that Duo was talking about that time with Relena-

"You must think that human's touch is disgusting, yes…?" Duo continued, his smile didn't falter although he'd given up staring at the demon's face to see whether he reacted to him or not.

-…and the Darque Lady said the same thing too.

Duo chuckled to himself; "I understand. I won't cross my lines; so you could be at ease around me too… I didn't mean to burden you with my words or my presence…"

"It's just a habit of mine to-" Duo chanced a glance to the demon and widened his eyes in surprise when he caught his blue eyes were staring at him apathetically. "I'm sorry. I'll shut up…!" he said hastily turning his head to the front again, looking down to the floor and clamping his mouth tight and looked like he just got reprimanded for being noisy.

-he'd probably got that a lot; being ignored and got mad at for trying to converse with people, the demon thought. Turning his gaze to the court again, noticing 4 soldiers that escorted Duo's outing that time were eyeing the boy with curiosity in a good way. Too bad the Duo now wouldn't even know who they were, he thought.

The silence stretched to over some ten minutes; Heero welcomed it, and just watched Odin having a childish time in his practicing the soldiers. He's not strict when he's in a light enough mood to have fun, he thought.

"…Heero…" Duo called out dejectedly; "If my being here bothers you… I can be elsewhere…" he offered silently, not looking at the demon at his side.

Heero almost sighed in complaint; why this boy couldn't just appreciate the time and their existence in silence, he thought.

And Duo was fidgeting now, twisting his fingers at his front in nervous gesture while chewing his lower lip.

Heero thought to just ignore him again, but knowing that Duo wasn't a bad person and that he owed him some whether Duo remembered or not.

"It's okay."

Duo stilled for several breaths span, doubting his hearing thinking it was the strong wind made him think he heard things. Slowly glancing at the demon's face, fearing the worse than just being ignored; and almost relieved when Heero was looking not at him apathetically, just like before… but still half-disappointed, he stared down at the floor again; positive that he was hearing things…

"It's fine here." Heero said louder without giving unnecessary pressure. Not sounding nice, and not sounding rude.

Duo blinked at him, then; really staring at the demon and tried to decipher the person behind that apathetic mask, feeling more at ease when he didn't have to force himself to abide to common's standards of social norms, like conversing and being polite and all… he felt like he could drown in the unearthly presence of the demon, actually realizing that they probably had more things in common and he didn't need to force his way in to be accepted in the demon's space.

The wind blew strong around the practice court; if he ignored the sounds of the people practicing and the birds chirping on the trees far across, he could hear the unearthly sounds so close to him and yet so distant-

Heero turned his head a little avoiding Duo's reaching hand towards his wings under the flaps of the red fur-hat, giving a little frown of warning to the boy.

". . . your wings…" Duo breathed as if he was half-aware of what he was doing, "…they sound hurting…"

Heero stilled in his avoiding turn, looking dignified with his stoic face. Duo stared into his eyes, looking pained and remorseful. They were so concentrating on each other that they failed to notice that the people on the practice court paused their activity and stared at them while holding their breaths, feeling nervous as they were aware of Odin's dangerous eyes trained at those two as well.

Duo stared at his reaching out hand for a couple of seconds, and back to the demon's face; the winds brought the feel of that unearthly feathers to his touch, he furled and unfurled his fingers teasing that feeling; and pulled his hand… gave a slow bow to the demon, and turned forward again with a level light air around him.

Heero blinked when Duo pulled his air back, feeling the concentrated presence of the boy now wasn't intruding his space. He turned forward too, looking stoic like always; eyes following his owner's movements; ignoring him yelling more orders to the soldiers that earned more complaints from them.

Duo felt the air opened to welcome him, -or just swallowed his presence; he understood how he should carry himself around the demon and that Commander, realizing that Heero's attention centered to that man, thinking that they were close colleagues, or that Heero thought of that man in high praise; feeling that man's protective aura towards the demon…

Duo smiled to himself, feeling something warm touched his heart, it made him feel at ease; he let himself lost in time and the unearthly presence of the demon swallowed him like he was rightful to be there by his side.

…he was content.

x - - - - - - - - x

Odin took Duo to have lunch in the dining hall; intentionally showing off about their weird composition. Heero stoically followed his owner around, standing behind him when he sat down on the chair by the end of the long table to eat; true to his reasoning that he was to guard the man's back. Duo didn't seem to mind about his attitude anymore, he didn't try to make unnecessary conversation to the demon, or inserting him in his conversation with Odin; he just took it whatever words Odin said to him when he spoke on his demon's behalf. Or when the man avoided the subjects when they're too close to the facts about his cohabiting life style, and Duo understood without needing to be told verbally. Duo didn't even asked what the demon was to Odin, or what the man was to the demon.

The man had chased away more than several Dignitaries by glaring deaths at them when they're about to approach Duo; he knew too well what Cail had meant and his concern, greedy people would flock around the power like vultures. He was aware that it was natural behavior as well, knowing he too had experienced what it felt like being the weak and hunted and feeling helpless; he didn't judge them, only avoiding them. He didn't have too many patience to mind them personally…

To his wonderment, the Lieutenant hadn't found them -with Duo along- even until pass midday. He didn't think that Cail would take absence in the middle of his duty, not when he knew how strung up that young man was about his responsibilities. So, either he met with something else or his body bent down by fatigue, Odin tinkered, realizing how tired the Lieutenant looked when they met this morning. The later was highly unlikely, he remembered how Cail with a broken leg was still insisting to follow him to battle when he was his aide; that boy needed to slow down a little, Odin commented to himself. So, it's more likely the previous?

If he really met with something else…- Odin frowned and expanded his concentration to the whole dining hall, taking in conversations and people's gestures; didn't find anything out of the ordinary, including how they reacted discreetly at the sight of his demon. Their being surprised to see Duo with the demon was expected, nothing unusual in that too.

Then, as he stood up after finishing his lunch; he felt it... a spark of anticipation -if not impatience, directed to him or his parade. Probably at Duo, he dismissed; and put a hand behind his demon's back to usher him -somewhat protectively- to escape the crowd. And there it was again…it was concerning him and his demon? It's not from Duo, too. Odin frowned and tried licking back at that spark; it's not lust, it's more like… possessiveness? -he almost couldn't believe it. Someone in this Palace could even think to claim his demon from him…?

Odin turned his head and searched for the owner of that spark, even knowing that that someone would most probably be the _unseen_ and he wouldn't find them with his eyes.

"What?" his demon asked silently, knowing his alarmed face and his uneasiness. Odin herded the boys outside somewhat feeling like a shepherd with two little lambs…-instead of a father with two kids.

"It's been there since before I wake up. You just realized it?" Heero asked in silent voice, didn't seem to care to be alert. Or on the contrary, he insisted to guard his back was because of it? Odin frowned and snorted; the Palace's air had just changed… the **Master** didn't say when he should carry that certain task, but probably Treize himself had known it? Or worse, that Familiar…?

If it was the _unseen_, then it's most probably be that cat-Familiar…maybe thinking to get them before he ever made a move on _his_ master. That's more likely the case; and so he thought to test it.

"So, Young Master, do you have anywhere you wanted to go to?" Odin tried with a grin.

Duo blinked at the sudden question, not feeling guarded anymore when the man had his arm around his shoulder again. "I thought you offered to show me the Palace…?" Duo asked, letting Odin didn't call him by name for now.

Odin snorted, "The Palace is boring; you'd have more time to walk around in the Palace later. How about we escort you to see the City? -or outside the City?" Odin implied something about the outing, and was almost positive that Duo would take it.

"Ohh.." Duo seemed like he was contemplating his option. But it was still noon, besides it's not weekend; he thought. "Then, could you take me to see the Palace Library? I heard it has book collections to die for…!" Duo said brightened at the idea of finding rare books he didn't even know existed.

Odin almost tripped at that; "The lib-…?!" _That's exactly the-cat's favorite spot of all places in that Palace…! It's literally to-die going there!_ -Odin complained in his head.

"No can do?" Duo asked with almost a childish tone.

Odin stared at the boy's open face; the boy knew how to use his wide innocent eyes to coax people, the man sweat-dropped. "…okay." He conceded, decided to change his plan and just challenged his suspicion.

x - - - - - - - - x

"WAAAHH! So many books heeere…!" Duo said in astonishment, and realized his loudness, covering his mouth with both hands and glanced back at the librarians at the front desks outside the library tower; grateful that they ignored his slip, probably minding that Odin was there with him.

Odin was looking up at the spiraling staircase at the center of the library; he knew it was the-cat's claim like _he_ owned it, more or less _his_ favorite toy. But he didn't find the-cat anywhere, not feeling even the-cat's invisible eyes on his being. There was even no trace of the-cat on the support cage around the spiraling staircase; his mind was picturing the sight of the-cat in _his_ little girl form hopping on the bars spiraling up and down chasing the cat-walk while Treize was on the narrow T-section like it was a game. He remembered the happy smile on that little girl's face and his heart didn't actually like the idea of taking something important from that-cat; knowing a Familiar's bond to their master could go deeper than his possessiveness over his demon. Gravely aware that if he were to kill _his_ master, he had to kill that-cat first…

His brain shifted its thought to a less depressing subject; he just remembered about that boy whom he paid to get that old-wisdom book from here… while he was just entertaining himself with the thought of such book, thinking that the boy wouldn't actually succeed and he was intending to just pay him for the effort. But was surprised when the-cat really let that boy have it; knowing where those kinds of book were stashed… Odin blinked and squinted at the cupola above. Could _he_ be up there, that-cat? And just realized that he didn't seem to be able to recall about that boy…

He frowned; that was strange, he thought. He was sure to make that boy said his name loud and clear when that boy gave him the book… What was it…? It's something befitting that boy's nature…

Now that he thought of it, he couldn't recall how he looked like, too. He was small for his age, almost looking malnourished… Odin tried to back-trace his memory. Had a smile beaming like-… the more he tried to picture it, the more it was white-washed.

A hand tugged on his lower arm pulled him back to his body. Odin turned his head towards his demon looking at him with an alien frown on his face; the man just realized that the floor felt like swaying under his feet. He blinked his awareness back to his mind; "What, Heero…?" his voice didn't sound as confident as usual.

"Don't go there. You'll get lost…" the demon said.

Odin arched his brows at him, didn't really understand what he meant but knew that the demon realized something. Eventhough the demon didn't meet that boy…?

"You're acting strange ever since I returned." The demon pointed out.

At that Odin almost looked caught. Was he really acting odd? _Well, it's that book's faults!_ -his mind pointed out with pressure. And it reminded him about what the **Master** told him that night as well… _Heero is not a demon_.

_What are you if you're not a demon?!_ -he frowned accusingly at the demon's face; who probably thought that the man was objecting that subject as they were out in the open, and returned to his stoic self watching Duo's excitement with the books he'd found.

Odin sighed to himself. His mind recalled the words he caught when he expanded his concentration back in the dining hall; a maid said in a loud reprimanding tone '-just stop carrying that pouch of candies when you can't remember whom it was for'. Hm, that was said tooo-… Odin searched his memory; the voice answering defiantly to that maid was… The cook Manager's!

So it seemed it wasn't only him losing that boy's frame from his memory. Odin harrumphed to the realization. For now he had to plan something to carry out **Master**'s order…

* * *

><p>"They said you're asking for me…?" Cail frowned passed the bars of the prison. The young man inside chuckled sounding drunk, and pulled the end of his jacket with a dirtied hand reeking of spirit.<p>

The guard harrumphed in dislike.

Cail sighed tiredly; "…it's okay, I knew his father. What was his mistake again?"

The guard looked dissatisfied for a moment. "…he was drunk in broad daylight and made a ruckus in the market; close to the guard-post, even!"

"Uuuungh!" Cail brushed his face exasperatedly, pulled the guard to a corner and whispered; "His father was a teacher I had high respect of; couldn't you overlook this matter just this once? I'll be indebted to you…"

"And I'll give him a lesson or two so he wouldn't make troubles again. Please?" the Lieutenant continued when the guard looked hesitant.

The guard snorted with a deep frown; "Lieutenant, Sir… it's not my place to say this, but associating with people like him will drag you into troubles…!"

Cail was frowning with dissatisfaction too at the floor, looking troubled. The guard sighed again; "Well… I know that not many people had chances to get their footing-"

Cail brightened at that, the guard continued with enough pressure to his tone; "But only because he was someone you spoke for; please make him understand to stay out of trouble before he make something more gravely like doing it in the witness or even involving -the Nobles-…?" he whispered the last words.

"I understand. Thank-you…-" Cail said with grim tone.

The guard put his hands up when Cail bowed at him. "Don't mention it; I'll pretend this never happened; so you too, if this matter ever leaks out, don't involve me later…?"

"This never happened." Cail said sternly. The guard nodded and opened the prison lock, and left.

The man in the prison chuckled satisfactorily; Cail snorted and stormed inside. "I WON'T HELP YOU AGAIN NEXT TIME! SO DON'T EVEN TRY A NEXT TIME…!" Cail pulled the young man by the collar, actually pushing and flattened his back to the wall.

"Okay-okaaay…!" that man chuckled with drunken tone.

"IT'S NOT OKAY!" Cail yelled and choked the man until he was coughing and flailing; listening to the light steps of the guards discreetly leaving the door to the prison corridor; only letting go when he was sure that they're really alone. The young man slid to the floor with a hard coughing. Cail squatted to speak to him.

"…you could-…" the young man tried, "…just pretended with your strength…?" he protested, still coughing.

"-sorry." Cail said with a grim face, actually looking concerned with a layer of endearing warmth on his eyes.

The young man quenched his coughing, and frowned. "-cough-… you lit the candle in broad daylight?" he almost protested, but also looking up at Cail's eyes with understanding warmth.

"Something urgent came up…!" Cail grimaced. The young man let out one last cough, and stared him. "I can't say it before I have enough proof-!"

"You promised you wouldn't involve yourself in the power-struggle…!" the young man pulled at his sleeve, wide-eyed and looking worried.

"I'm not!" Cail snorted, tapping gently at the hand on his sleeve. "There's just something I couldn't ignore…!"

"I'm sorry I called you here like this; I couldn't get out of the Palace without passing the Palace-ward." He mouthed; earning an alarmed look on the young man's face. Cail tapped the codes onto the back of the hand still on his sleeve; the young man looked baffled with fright, looking at Cail's face with uncertainty. Cail put his fist on his own lips, giving a stare; to others he might look like he was making a gesture of reproach, but he was cuing his friend to keep silent.

The young man nodded once, looking none too happy but conceded. Cail pulled him up and walked him out with a stern arm circling at his upper back; the guards thought he was giving enough pressure to make his words noted by that young man, and let them pass pretending nothing happened.

"Be good, okay?" Cail said off-handedly, ruffled the young man's head with a friendly hand; he was looking younger than the Lieutenant, after all, the guards thought they were probably close childhood friend that were almost like brothers…?

The young man flailed and battled Cail's hand from his head, giving a hard push to his chest to retaliate but he was the one recoiled a step back on his unsteady feet; it earned him a satisfactory chuckles from the Lieutenant. The young man growled, but left without another word. Cail sighed and watched his back passing the lower gate to the long road that intersected with a main road, until the sight of him disappeared in the crowd of the town folks. He scratched his head and turned around, noticing the guards' eyes were on him; he gave a grateful nod at them, and they nodded once to him.

Cail walked into the inner gates; looking up to see the red canopy of the Sanctuary Trees was visible even when he was standing on the court at the foot of the Palace-mountain. People should wonder about those trees, anyway; he thought, and walked into the guardian's gate built into the wall of the mountain, looking up at the sloping staircases, passed the buildings that stacked up towards the Palace at the top. He had to find Duo before anything happened…

x - - - - - - - - x

"…that was uncanny…!" a plump maid commented.

"I thought I was going to throw up my heart, you know? That Maxwell-boy standing in the food line with a grinning Commander Odin patting his back and being friendly?! How weird is that…?" another maid slapped a bread-dough to the table, making a puff of flour with the force.

"Maybe they had a truce about -that demon-?" another maid said in gossiping tone, arching her brows as if talking of something vile.

"-Like, what kind of _truce_…?" the other maids hunched down in their circle around the table, whispering something under their breaths, and giggled with a high-pitched sound.

Cail sighed behind the wall next to the kitchen door; he didn't mean to eavesdrop on such subject, the mention of Duo was what stopped him from his track. But, Duo was with the Commander, then? Maybe because he met the man that morning; or something he'd said at the time…? Oh, but the Commander sure would have known it about Duo's condition by now, how should he react to their seemingly new-found friendly-encounter? Odin would absolutely take it like an opportunity; for what, he couldn't be sure… but at least the man would chase away the Dignitaries from the boy; Cail nodded to himself.

"Hush, now! You shouldn't be gossiping about your masters openly…!" a young attendant came from the other door that led to the corridor at the opposite wall of where Cail hid, pushing a food cart in his hands.

"But that was what…?" a maid countered, "An open show or something? -the demon- was there too, tailing obediently, and who knows what else -that- being obedient at…?!"

The maids laughed around the tables with a shrill sound; the attendant frowned at the sound piercing his ears, he decided he wouldn't be able to reason with the women and their gossips, so he tried changing the subject half-guiltily. "…if that's weird, tell me about this!" he pulled the white cloth covering the food cart.

That immediately stopped the maids' laughter; they hunched their bodies to peer at the cart. "Whaaat? Again?" they asked collectively.

"I thought he loved it so much he couldn't live without…!"

"More like he couldn't work without!" the attendant's voice said with confident.

"Ah, but I heard from my auntie that he'd never missed drinking it every morning since he was a child…!" a younger maid countered.

Cail wanted to peer inside but didn't want to risk getting caught; he recognized that attendant's voice… it was the attendant of Treize's study.

"Oh yes, I heard about it too…" the other maid supported; "It had to do with his sickly constitution, right…?"

"He was sickly?" the attendant asked.

"What, you didn't know?" the maids asked almost in unison. "General Treize had a weak constitution since birth, I heard he had brushes with death when he was really young, too…" the young maid said silently.

"_**Him**_?!" the attendant's voice took Cail's incredulous tone from his mind.

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" the plump maid asked.

"Well…" the attendant sounded doubtful; "All I know as unbelievable is that he never touched his black-flower tea anymore…!"

"Aaahh… and he'd sure had you hysterically panicking when the black-flower disappeared from the market that one time, hu?" the maids patted the attendant's back in sympathy.

"That wasn't funny…!" the attendant frowned defiantly; earning the maids giggled at him in a more pleasant sound. "…and after I insisted to the gardener to plant those flower in the Palace, he decided to change his palate _now_?" he still complained, though. The maids laughed louder at his expression.

"That's what masters do, isn't it?" the plump maid smoothened, and the other maids gave their agreeing answers in merriment. "They do that when you least expected it…! Hahahahaa…"

Cail widened his eyes, that info was almost giving an affirmation to his suspicion. But since when…? He frowned knowing he couldn't ask the attendant without raising suspicion or exposing himself to the others. Snorted, he walked with fast strides getting away from that kitchen door; a determined frown on his face… tonight, he could confirm his suspicion with his own eyes…

The problem now was Duo… if only he could stay out of trouble by himself…?

-No. He should do something before Duo got mixed into dangerous situation…!

* * *

><p>The room was dimly lit, some men sat circling a long table by the center, their aides or guards stood behind them; they all had grim faces and guarded frowns, trying to look like they didn't have doubts about each other present. No one spoke.<p>

A man with a serious frown opened the door behind the empty seat at the head of the table; he entered and bowed, holding the door handle from the inside of the room, pleasing his masters to enter. The men at the table turned their heads at the door simultaneously, something lit in their eyes. Rockefeller came in with his usual haughty air; his abettors tailed him like obedient children. The door closed behind them, he walked to his seat at the head of the table, the men stood up from their seats to greet him -not losing their grim expressions and hesitant looks.

Rockefeller gazed at their faces, staring them one by one in the eyes; nodded his greetings as well as pleasing the men to take their seats back. There was a collective exhale as they eased their body weights almost in the same time, they probably didn't want it to sound like they were snorting, minding the eyes of Rockefeller staring at them like a hawk.

Rockefeller snorted as reply, or just showing his dominance, but he didn't want it to sound rude, either; clearing his throat to smooth it, he started…

"Not everyone is here…!"

The men's eyes fast glanced at their comrades around the table, recognizing who were not there but kept silence, letting their leader to state it as he pleased.

Rockefeller snorted, in derisive this time; "If they're not here, I'll take it that they're leaving…!"

The men looked somewhat afraid at that.

"I'll see them personally later. I didn't call all you here for proving your loyalty just by being present…" there was an implied warning in that sentence; Rockefeller took his seat. "Reports?" he turned to the man nearest at his left.

The man nodded and spoke, "With the Great Judge murdered, we have infiltrated the Factory behind the Palace."

Rockefeller frowned in objection to that supposedly good news; the man blinked and caught himself, cleared his throat and revised his words. "He died of unidentified cause, but rumors said it was murder… The killer is still on the run, but it's to our gain, Sir. -and the-Son couldn't point his suspicion to us, too." He added the last part as an afterthought.

Rockefeller didn't comment and shifted his gaze to the next man.

"The men I sent to infiltrate the Palace, failed in the Palace Court." The man said rather apathetically; the table livened with a round of surprised hum. "Yes, it was my doing. But the-Son needed to see some failure of some assassins every once in awhile; or else he'd suspect that we're building our force right under his nose…!"

Rockefeller snickered at that. He continued to the next man.

"That last-Maxwell checked the Lake Nivdell dam in Kyr's Mountain; as some of you might have heard the news. I didn't think he had proof, but he might have reported it to the-Son…!"

The men looked at that man with narrowed eyes. "I've sent something to keep him from going back to the Palace; but Odin's demon joined him on the way. I couldn't really jeopardize the Contract this early." He continued.

"Right. Not yet. We'll take care about that Contract after we had our claim…!" Rockefeller grumbled. That man nodded his bow in gratitude and understanding. "Production?" Rockefeller continued.

That man lifted his chin a little somewhat looking proud; "Factory below Kyr's Mountain had finished production up to 92% of target, Sir."

There was another round of hum; that man almost smirked.

"The others?" Rockefeller gazed around.

"Rien Fall at 84%, Sir."

"Luma Desert at 98%. We've probably finished as we speak." A stoic looking young man said from his chair at the other end of the table, his hair was shocking white with sickly-pale skin, his accent was of slow-chanted almost pressurizing every syllable, like he was forcing himself to speak with a numb tongue.

Another longer round of hum heard in disbelief; "Desert?!" that proud man in charge of Kyr's Mountain dam asked wide-eyed.

"We have knowledge to make production from the heat. And it's not gaining suspicion too from people who could see something unusual with their water supply." The young man said without looking others in the eyes.

There was a collective complaint and Rockefeller put his hand up easing their voices. "Rion of Sandwater, these men are your seniors, try with more grace."

"…Sandwater?" some men knew they'd heard that name before but couldn't recall the details.

"My ancestors were the first to make verve-crystals even before Arn'crad existed; and you are my seniors…?" his thin fingers played with the ring on his left thumb, the middle part could roll around his finger on the carved base and his eyes somewhat found it more amusing than the men's faces around him. "When your children come to us searching for knowledge to stop their land from becoming a desert, should we teach them or should we call them seniors, too…?" his dry lips pulled to a playful smile. "_**I**_ could teach them how to build sandcastles…!"

"Sandwater." Rockefeller warned flatly.

The young man's smile pulled wider, eyes turned to the haughty old man; his eye color were light smoky grey, there were no striations nor pupils on them, a shining ring of fire-like colors marked the outer line of each iris; the sight almost made the bewildered men gasped in fright.

"I am here on behalf of my Father, good Sirs. I came to see his Master, not to have friendly chit-chat with you. -I am but a boy playing with sandcastles all his life, please excuse my coarse way of doing things…!" the young Sandwater said silkily; his escorts smirked condescendingly behind him. It made the men frowning in dislike, visibly reining their anger to not ruin their meeting.

"How many verve-crystals were you assigned to make?" the man of Kyr's Mountain asked dignifiedly, thinking of a contest.

The young Sandwater chuckled as his eyes trained back to his ring; "…three-" his accent somewhat sounded childish.

"Three?!" some men quipped as they stood from their seats, looking like they're going to explode; Rockefeller's hand hit the table to stop them.

"Onnne to take hold of General Treize Kushrenada's Familiar, one to keep the Contract demon at bay, onnne to break the Palace Ward…! Do you need more?" the young Sandwater smiled to his ring.

There was a silenced pause in the room. The men looked surprised and skeptical but doubting their disbelief as well, glancing at each other to question themselves. Rockefeller looked solemn despite his objecting eyes, usually he'd reprimand his men for saying Treize's name openly, fearing the senses of the Familiars that could target them even with their precaution spells; they glanced at him and conceded when the man cued them to sit back.

"…you can take down the Palace Ward?" a baffled man at Rockefeller's right asked.

"My ancestors were between the few who made it; the basic to the system was from our clan's art…" the young Sandwater said ignoring the stares he got.

"What about the hawk-Familiar…?" another quipped.

The young Sandwater leered slowly, letting out hissing sound as he closed his eyes as if he tasted something delicious in his mouth. The pale yellowish tongue licked the slightly parted lips was parted at its end. "She'sss still a hatchling…!" he pointed out, "Familiars took hundreds of years to mature; a Familiar younger than me is not even a matchhh…"

The baffled men looked hesitant but already lost their anger, looking at each other with calculating stares, already thinking about victory and the things they'd wanted… the young Sandwater chuckled knowingly, smelling the foul air filled with greed and selfishness and envy, and 'me', 'Me', 'ME'...!

"But IIII-…" he started with a confident smile, looking up the men, giving them a bored piercing stare; "…will only hand them to our Father's Master, in person."

The men looked restless on their feet, not really knowing what the young man meant.

Rockefeller sighed, and stood up. ". . . he's here."

A low hum heard from the baffled men, looking at their leader with relief or hope. A man in black cloak came out from behind the tied curtain separating the table and the space to the door; they didn't realize someone stood there the whole time. The men gasped in alarm when that man pulled the cloak hood down to his shoulders… they paled in disbelief.

The General smiled composedly at the head of the table, as Rockefeller gave his seat to him and stood at his right, a little behind his back as if being inferior. "The older one of Sandwater's twin boys… I still can recognize you by your voice." The General greeted.

The young Sandwater laughed outright, standing from his seat and bowed; "General Kushrenada… It's been a long time since we saw _you_."

"Your father couldn't make it?" the General asked.

The young Sandwater smiled earnestly, looking at the General's eyes; "He's 372 years old this year; he stopped going out since a decade ago."

"Oh…" the General contemplated; "Too bad, I thought he said he wanted to witness it himself the breaking of that failure Palace Ward…!"

The young Sandwater suddenly let out an almost insane laughter, until he was swaying on his feet that his escorts came to his sides to catch him if he were to fall. "You'rrrre right it's a failurrre! That's why Father wanted it down centuries ago-!" the young man snarled with a wild expression, a shade of black visible from his forehead between his brows spreading around, coloring mostly half his upper face. Six notable fangs visibly jutted from his neat lines of teeth as his lips opened wide enough to show them, 4 on the upper line, 2 on the lower.

"You can take it down _now_." The General said with smooth matter-of-factly tone.

The young Sandwater's face turned neutral, closing his mouth with an audible click -most likely as those fangs hit each other, staring at the blond General's face with bored eyes; taking a long time doing so, and then smiled again turning back to that stoic young man from before.

". . . as you wish… Master of our Father…!"

x - - - - - - - - x

"I thought that Sandwater would need more convincing…!" Rockefeller grumbled as he poured the blue wine into two glasses; took them in each hand and handed the one in his right to the blond man sprawled on the lounger. He didn't want to admit it that he couldn't take possession of that meeting room with that young Sandwater.

The blond snickered, straightened his back a little as he accepted the glass wine, still lounging lazily as if he didn't care about possible dangers around him; one leg draped on the low back of the lounger, the other rested its foot on the cushion-like armrest at the far end.

"People should be talking about your different ways with trivial details, by now." The old man criticized, taking the wingchair across that lounger.

"Ha!" the General scoffed, taking a gulp of the blue wine and stirred the glass in his hand, watching as that clear blue liquid shone under the light. "Your baffled men almost made me laughed!" he criticized back.

Rockefeller smirked, "I thought you'd enjoy it…!"

"And I did, my friend…!" the General chuckled.

"…are they trustworthy? The Sandwaters?" Rockefeller asked with a frown, stirring his own glass.

"They're usable." The General admitted. "The twins' father knows me; actually I'd be more at ease if it were him coming here. But he's indeed that old…!"

"What about **Master**?" Rockefeller asked; a flash of vengeance in his eyes as he mentioned that title.

"He left this morning." The General smirked, a melancholic shade in his eyes. The old man didn't miss it.

"Can you really finish this…?"

"Ooohh… are you doubting me, Rockefeller?" the General asked somewhat lazily.

Rockefeller snorted with a derisive smirk. "That _**boy**_…! -had given me a lot of troubles while you're on the other side! Forgive me for having to ask this outright, can you finish the King, _General_?" he asked with a stern tone. "He made you failed once, even with your being _here_, didn't he?"

The General stared the old man from the ends of his eyes, losing his smirk and looking bored. "If I were still _me_, you think I'd let you live after speaking to me with that tone, Rockefeller?" his stare turned grim.

Rockefeller didn't react to that, looking contemplative, took a deep breath and sighed audibly; sipped his wine glass once, and watched the blond again. ". . . what about Odin?" he eventually asked.

"Odin is still Odin." The General smiled, "He still has that soft side he thought I didn't notice…!"

"…he'll come to me soon." The General said in closing tone and finished his blue wine in one go.

* * *

><p>Duo threw his body onto his bed, squealing like a child as the puff sound heard and some feathers blown to the air. Rolled to his back, he took time to be mesmerized by the floating down feathers. Of course it would remind him of Heero's feathers. He smiled to himself, recalling Heero's stoic face he'd burned into his memory from this whole day… who would've thought that the Commander would actually escort him until dinner and walked him to his chamber, even?<p>

A little voice in his head pointed out that the man was babysitting him for his cousin Treize, but he felt grateful for Treize's paranoia now. Slowly, he started chuckling by himself, pulled the pillow and hugged it covering his face, rolling on his bed squealing like a girl.

"I can be friends with hiiiimm….! Ahahahahahaahahha!"

The guards outside his double doors sweated on their feet; wishing that the Lieutenant would come back sooner.

x - - - - - - - - x

"What's that?!" the guards at the other double doors crossed their spears stopping the covered food cart.

The old attendant looked flustered, even more with his hunched aging back, "This is… I was only told to bring this inside, Sir…" his trembling voice sounded nervous.

The guards frowned and looked at each other; "The General is out right now…!" the first guard countered, almost sounded angry to that ignorant attendant.

"Yessir…-!" the attendant bowed, turning with the food cart along.

A soft click heard and one of the double doors pulled inside about 2 centimeters, not leaving a space to see behind the thickness of the wooden panel.

The guards looked surprised, looking behind at the doors and at each other again, questioning the occurrence, and decided that perhaps the General's cat-Familiar was inside and asked for some food. It's their first time guarding his chamber, so they didn't know the chamber occupants' habits. They let the attendant brought the food cart in, looking worried when the door closed from the inside… if they did something wrong, it'd be their heads on the line…! Why didn't The Sixth guard this chamber as usual? -they mumbled under their breaths and stood guard again.

The room was dark, like no one was there; Cail frowned. Taking the attendant hat from his head and held it on his front in generic posture. "…Sir?" he tried, his eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, already knowing he didn't see anyone in the living room. Walking slowly to the doors of the inner chamber, he tried to open the door… the panels opened when his fingers poked at them. He frowned again…

"Siir…?" he tried again louder with trembling olden voice, daring himself into the dark bedroom.

A small shift of air felt from the head of the large bed; he gasped, bowing his head… wondering if his guised was flawed, and assuring himself that it didn't. At least the guards outside didn't recognize it was him-

A rustling sound answered him from the bed, at the far corner of the drape post.

Cail frowned, it didn't feel human-

Looking around his surrounding, making sure there was no one present in that room, he walked to that spot, rounding his way around the bed as he did. Taking another look around the room then pushed the heavy drape aside a little. There was a surprised rustle when he did it; Cail frowned as he found a shivering bundle pressed itself to the headboard.

He could make out the bulge of a head, shoulders and some limbs under the thick blanket.

-no, that's not a blanket… it's the tapestry from the wall; he thought.

But he was positive it was a humanoid-creature under that tapestry; from the size it was around a human adolescent's.

He blinked; **that** General had this kind of _hobby_…?! He thought with skeptical tone, and people said he was more of a loli-con…teenagers shouldn't be in his range of preference...? But the proof was there in front of him… Or was it the General's Familiar's _catch_…?

He let the drape in his hand fell behind his back, the sound made the bundle jumped in surprise, a gasp of fear heard from it. Cail frowned deeper, he thought and whispered; "I'm sorry. I'm not the master of this room. Please excuse my insolence…"

The bundle stilled, and with that as cue, Cail slowly and carefully peeled the overlaying cloths from that cocoon; his heart beat nervously, his alarm had sounded in his head the moment he was greeted with a dark room inside.

Short black hair-

That's the first sight that greeted his eyes; then of naked shoulders… slender arms hugging the bent knees on the chest. Clawed hands, scraping at the upper arms on and off…there were proofs of how sharp those black pointy nails on the pale skin. As if the creature was hurting itself in frustration-

_This's wronggg…-!_ His mind groaned; he felt the shivers started to climb up his arm from the ends of his fingers; the thick cloth fell from his numb hand to the bed.

The picture was almost familiar to his eyes… he'd seen that frame too many times…!

A pair of black cat-ears suddenly perked up from the black haired head; Cail gasped and unconsciously took a step back. His body seized by freezing fear, he tried shaking his head in denial… the black head slowly pulled up from the bent knees and folded arms.

"-…noo-" his voice choked by fear. -_it's that-cat! It's undoubtedly that-cat, but the face is __**wrong**__!_

The wide eyes were glazed, either by tears of fright or pains… those lips thinned and trembled, the same upturned nose, the same immaculate face… _But the expression is wrooong!_-his mind yelled frantically.

The clawed hands grabbed at Cail's tunic; he gasped landing his mind into his body with a painful realization that it was not a bizarre dream. A long hiss, several gasps, another miserable hiss… Cail widened his eyes.

"You can't speak…?!" he saw a collar around the lithe neck with thin black chains attached from it to the drape post; his heart sank…

That all-too-known face bent in anguish, a hand clawed at the collar making a soft ringing sound as the trembling fingers touched it; a lick of power in the air, and the clawed fingers recoiled and bled a black liquid. The contorted face pleaded at him with hisses, pulling at the tunic with the hand still gripping at the cloth tightly.

". . .-e. . . iz-" the-cat managed to let out with difficulty; and then _he_ shook _his_ head violently. When Cail tried to calm _him_, _he_ pushed him in frantic. Hissing, pushing, while shaking _his_ head.

"-I know!" Cail tried, "I know about your master, please stop!" He realized the hands were so weak he didn't even feel like he was pushed. -wait.

Cail stiffened; the-cat was that weak, presumably because of that collar… so who opened the door for him?

The-cat stopped pushing him, now that all-too-known face contorted in a deeper anguish, looking like it's about to cry. The chill made Cail shivered; it made sense now… the old attendant who wouldn't put up much resistance when he ambushed the man on his way to this chamber, the new guards outside the doors instead of The Sixth…, the General being away-

A dim light shone in the corner of the room; Cail gasped as the bed drapes furled by themselves, coiling around the posts like snakes; soft cracking sounds heard as the wood yielded under the pressures. That light formed like a thin crescent shape, Cail narrowed his eyes, recognizing that light was lit inside the helmet of the armor that stood on the corner. -_it was empty…!_ He thought…_or the person wearing that full-body armor could hide their living signs perfectly!_

-_it's a trap!_ He worded in his heart. With pained heart he realized he was used as part of the trap too… "Dammit!" he cursed to himself.

The armor head turned at him with a silent creaking sound, he could see that the light was actually two shining rounds, as in eyes. The clawed hands pulled at his tunic now, trembling in fright; Cail glanced at that pained face, knowing that Familiar was worried about him… he couldn't do anything to calm _him_ but smiled; he tried a reassuring smile, although his eyes might have betrayed him.

"Cail. Lieutenant." The slow-chanted gentle voice coming from the armor carried a smile. "I am Scion of Sandwater. You can remember that name in the afterlife…"

Cail discreetly eased the dagger handles from inside his sleeves to his grips; he didn't know whether he could make a difference, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.

…in the back of his mind, he knew he'd heard that voice somewhere… maybe not the exact voice, but he remembered the feel of the smile it carried-

A blazing light-

…and then silence-

The-cat hissed frantically…

-the bed drapes closed.

x - - - - - - - - x  
>x - - - - - - - - x<p>

**thanx for reading…**

_The new comics book (that-one that took over 3 years to finish…-duh) is finally released, not yet have it officially launched, though. Somehow saru is in bad mood in the wait… just found out when the print-proof books arrived by mail that there's 2 pages missing, and 1 page (part of the climax too) is a blank-dialogue page repeated from some earlier page (…meaning, it's missing too)._

_Aaaaa…okay…. They were kind of in a hurry lay-outing it for an event in Jakarta (that was just held yesterday/ feb 29); and our editor said they couldn't reprinted it because it's already distributed to book stores. Uhhh? Okay, let's just upload the missing pages in our fan page, then…? No? our editor told us to wait… but, eeehhhh-saru-is-confused-now._

…_Let's just upload some fics._


	27. Chapter 27

** Another -22 february '15**

_Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too. _

_Warning: saru suddenly had a bad mood over the new portable keyboard, was trying to type just for the sake of getting used to the buttons… just found out the 'ctrl' button didn't work- saru's fault for not checking every button last week after buying it, and it's already passed the cooling off period to the store. Alright! Let's just use this keyboard for playing games… and continue with depressing fic!_

**chapter 27**

_Seven months ago the Red Tower was closed with high security placed on every door up to its top chamber. The red spell-imbued crystal panes on the windows refracted the sunlight into multiple colors in light-plays; its red pointy roof glinted boldly under the sun, even the City folks could see it like a warning from their King._

_The blond boy stopped in the middle of the flight, the spiraling stairs mocked his heavy agonized breaths, holding at his chest- twisting the fabric of his white cloth as if by doing so he could get a good grasp on his pains and conquer it. The cold sweat fell from his forehead, to his pale cheeks and dripped from his chin and jaws; he wiped them with his sleeves and continued his climb. The guards ignored him as he passed slowly and unsteadily on his small legs; people didn't see him as threat with his ailing body… it somewhat saddened him, knowing what he couldn't do… what couldn't be…_

_The red pointy double doors stood proudly in their silence, waiting patiently for his weak knees to stop buckling and his breaths to stop wheezing. His cold sweat had given up on him half way up, swaying on his feet with a trembling hand propped his weight on the wall, he knew he needed to drink soon or he'd collapse from the fatigue and dehydration… how he hated his weak body…!_

_It took about 15 minutes until his trembling subsided, he watched the plain white ceiling as he sat rested to the wall, grateful that there was no window-ceiling there… because he wouldn't survive the sunlight in that condition-_

_Looking down at his lax hands on his laps, a prick of anger stung his heart at the thought; it's not the sunlight and the stair flights that were his enemies…!_

_Gripping at his loose tunic, he stood up holding onto the wall for support, using his anger to force his body to obey him; knowing a smile was waiting in the room, more patient than those doors. Ignoring the eyes of the guards following his groggy moves, he took a deep breath facing the sturdy doors, and knocked 3 times on the thick panel; the white room behind the doors was lit with mesmerizing colors. The kind smile bloomed only for him as he entered._

_He smiled happily in return, entering the room with light steps and bowed slowly as he stopped near the bed. The tussels lining the white bed drapes swayed in an invisible breeze welcoming him. The air took him as its possession; he presented himself to the claim. The white hand beckoned him so he took a step closer and held that fragile hand gently, kissing it with affection. A happy chuckle answered him, the loving strokes on his head…_

"_Come sit by my side, Treize… The child has been waiting for you anxiously…!" the beautiful eyes drooped with a smile._

_His brows pushed up a little, eyes brightened with a shy happy flush on his cheeks; he pushed himself up onto the fluffy white bed, facing its sitting occupant. ". . . really?" he asked to the beautiful pale face watching him intently._

"_Mm-hm…" The beautiful woman nodded, "…kicking impatiently until just now. That's how I know that you were coming here…"_

_The boy's eyes clouded a little, eventhough he still didn't lose his smile. Looking down to the bulging belly covered with thick blanket, trying a ghostly touch over it. "…I'm sorry… I took too long coming here…"_

_The frail hand covered his small hand and pressed it to her belly._

"_Ah-…" he almost objected in fear of endangering his precious person in there, but a light thump on his palm greeted him. "Ohh…!" his eyes widened with mesmerized surprise._

_The woman chuckled satisfactorily at his expression. "…it's alright, it doesn't hurt when you do that." She smiled wider._

_He was torn between his lines and the wonderment he felt on his palm, looking up at the gentle face and the bulge under his hand. An uncomfortable heat rose up his face; "Please forgive me for being insolent…-" he said with small voice, but his hand didn't feel his shyness and acted on its own, stroking again and again with care._

_The woman let him drowned himself in his wonderment, knowing he'd gone to a world where only he and her child possessed. She poured a glass of water from the glass table at her side, dipped her fingers into the water bowl next to the crystal pitcher and flicked them at the boy's face._

"_Drink, Treize…" she smiled when the boy's eyes turned at hers again after exactly 14 seconds passed, it's his routine -or should she say his pace…?_

_He took the offered glass with both hands, drank its content in one go with small gulps; sighed heavily when he pulled the glass from his mouth. "…thank-you, Milady Queen…" he said shyly when he offered the empty glass. The woman took the glass and put it back on the table, cupped his pale cheek with her hand, knowing the boy didn't flinch from the cold… his cheek was also cold-_

"_Elina said you had another fever last night…?" she tried, playfully stroking the soft cheek; impressed by the softness of children's skin and their frailty._

"_I'm fine. Please don't concern yourself with my condition, Milady Queen." He smiled._

_She nodded in understanding; pulling the blond head down gently. "Come, let me hug you…"_

_The boy widened his eyes when he was pushed to recline on her belly, the side of his head on top of it, her arm draped on him casually but trapped him there. He opened his mouth to protest._

"_Shh- don't fight with a conceiving lady…!" she reprimanded him with a stern voice still with a smile. ". . . I won't be able to hold my child later, so… let me hold both of you Angels like this for awhile…" her voice broke a little at the end; he clamped his mouth shut and tried a reassuring smile._

"_Can you hear anything…?" she asked; he pretended he didn't notice the wet layer on her eyes._

"_Uh-huh." He closed his eyes and nodded. "A gentle song…" he smiled. "Na -nana na-naa… na nana…na naa…" he hummed._

_She chuckled, "My child is singing to you…?"_

"_No…" he opened his eyes, "I hear it in my heart… I wish Milady's child to hurry and hear me singing it to him…"_

_She chuckled longer at that, offhandedly stroked his blond head. "…oh, Treize… I wished I could wish the same…" the clear liquid hang on the ends of her eyes, he saw it clearly this time._

_The double doors blasted open as if answering her, banged to the walls with a loud noise, a billowing sound marked the arriving of the King._

_The Queen gasped, Treize pushed his body up in reflex, eyes wide to the doors. A maid came running from one of the small rooms lining the inner wall, prostrated on the floor by the side of the red carpet; she couldn't help herself and trembled in fright._

_Two men stood by the doorway; sharp boiling air around them. Treize swallowed his nervousness and pushed his feet to the floor; looking at them walking in with fast proud strides. He bowed deeply when they got near, put his composedness in his actions and tried to not stand out in the sudden stormy presence._

_The King stood near him when they stopped, giving an uncaring glance at his figure before glaring at The Queen. "When is it due?" he asked coldly._

_The Queen's face turned neutral like a mask, she refused to stare at The King and kept her eyes to a far spot in front of her. "When it's due." She said with dignified tone, sounding like a completely different person from the one speaking with Treize moments before._

_The King narrowed his eyes dangerously at her bulging belly. "If it's a boy-…" he grumbled like a beast._

"_He will never get out of this tower." The Queen continued his words with a stern voice._

"_As a corpse." He ended._

_The Queen widened her eyes and tuned her face to The King to glare, he glared back coldly. "You can depart with him; babies need their mothers, after all." He snarled with hatred. She thinned her trembling lips, twisting the gripped blanket in her fist, glaring poisons at her husband who didn't fazed at all by her show of contempt._

_The King turned his head with a snap at the small blond head standing at his right, on the space between the bed and his standing point albeit not exactly in front of him, as if keeping himself there like a small wall shielding the air of him and The Queen. He snorted at the thought; such a frail wall it was…! He turned around sharply and walked to the open doors without anymore words. The other man tailing The King took his time to glare at Treize with narrowed eyes; the boy felt it but he paid no heed, he only straightened his body when the double doors closed with another loud bang that literally made the frightened maid fell limply to the floor… it wasn't a long fall, thankfully._

_He sighed after he glanced at the maid, a little worried that she might get a heart attack, but smiled a little at her when she perked her head up and tried a nervous smile at their direction… she should worry about them, and not the other way around; the maid thought. She mustered her strength and got up on her unsteady feet, pouring a glass of warm water for her Lady with trembling hands, managed to do it without spilling too much water on the table… _

_He took the cold hand gripping at the blanket, opening the stiff fingers gently and put it on his chest open-palmed, covering it with both his smaller hands willing for the coldness to go away._

"…_Milady, please calm down…" the maid said when The Queen refused to drink from the glass that presented to her lips. She was glaring anguish to the end of the bed, defiantly didn't want her tears to fall. The maid almost sobbed and put the glass down, dabbed the wet cloth from the bowl to her Queen's face instead. She closed her eyes and eventually let her tears fall, the maid moaned her sympathy and took her upper body and head into her embrace, kissing her head repeatedly, whispering soothing words she herself didn't believe._

_The Queen sobbed and yielded, "…Elina-…!" she begged._

"_I'm here…!" the maid tried a snicker with her teary eyes, "I'm here, Sweetheart. Don't worry, My Child…!" she whispered with stronger tone, letting The Queen sobbed in her arms._

_A steady beat on her palm gradually calmed her, such soft gentle thumps that didn't give in to the storm she still felt in the air and in her heart… On her palm, she knew, she felt the heart that beat with frailty but steady with determination. It's like a silent prayer with unwavering faith._

_The Queen opened her eyes to see Treize's smiling face, calm and warm like sunrise; she pushed herself forward from the maid's embrace, and beckoned him for a hug with her other arm. "Oh, Angel, don't do that…" she pleaded, "…don't oppose The King…" she whispered to the blond head._

"_I don't want my Prince to have pearl-blond hair…" -like the King's; he said somewhat childishly. The Queen froze at that. "Golden like mine would be nice. It will be like a uniform-…"_

_The maid covered his mouth kneeling at his side, hushing him to be quiet with his daring words. He blinked at the maid now looking like she might get a real heart attack if he were to finish his words._

_The Queen snickered weakly, continued to a yielding chuckle. ". . . that's right. Such beautiful color…" she pulled the hand from the boy's chest and played with his golden locks; he smiled from behind the maid's hands still covering his mouth. "…like a uniform… just for the two of you…" she whispered dreamily._

"_Milady…" the maid warned silently, fearing whose ears hearing them right now-_

_One of the double doors banged open again; the poor maid jumped and pulled her hands to her front like she was already waiting for the oncoming punishment, trembling in fear. He frowned in disagree to the poor maid, turning his eyes to the doorway with a protective frown; he knew who it should be._

"_Treize. Go home." The low flat tone was apathetic, it was only marred with a sense of ownership._

_He didn't move; so this time it took 8 minutes 44 seconds for The Great General Kushrenada to excuse himself from The King, he thought with sarcasm._

"_Nooow." The low voice carried unspoken threats; it didn't need to be a growl to make its points._

_The maid jerked and pushed him to move, mouthing 'Go' with worried face._

_He sighed again, and kissed The Queen's hand, kissed the ends of his fingers and put them on her belly. The Queen glanced worriedly at the man narrowing his eyes as the boy did that. "I'll take my leave, Milady Queen." He bowed._

"_Yes, take care." The Queen said, stealing worried glances at the man looking at the boy with darkened eyes._

_He walked to the doors with steady steps, the door panel closed with unnecessary force behind his back mocking his helplessness; his father didn't wait for him as he'd already descending the flight of stairs in front of him. He stared until that cold back disappeared by the spiraling staircase, could only heard the first lower door closed as the man passed it._

_He looked at his feet, noticing that his knees almost buckled… again; looking up at his father's aide waiting patiently at his side, he took his bedroom slippers off his cold feet, held them at his front and looked up at the man's face again. The Aide nodded and took him up in his arms, and descended the stairs without a word._

_General Kushrenada's study was large and cold; it had grim air despite the tall windows giving light from the outside. Treize let the slippers fall down from his hands after the Aide put him down to sit on the long sofa facing the dark-wood desk._

"_I told you to stay away from the Red Tower." General Kushrenada said from behind his desk._

_It's not the first time his father caught him fleeing his sick-bed and went there; although, it was the first time he caught him there while he was escorting The King… but would it make any difference? Treize didn't look at his father's eyes; the man could try and chained him to the bed post like last time, it only gave him things to practice fleeing with._

"_Putting yourself between The King and his hatred…!" General Kushrenada continued. At that Treize looked up; that child that's going to be born is NOT a 'hatred'…!-he objected with his frowning eyes._

_-a blast of wind without a sound, but he could see it like a see-through blade cutting the air; and the wall behind him made a loud crash and crumbled, leaving a long diagonal large gap as the leftover dust rained from behind him. The Aide couldn't suppress his surprised jerk and steeled himself in fear; he almost felt sorry for the man… but his father wouldn't lay a hand on him… he'd die from a normal fist's blow to the head, or chest; his father wouldn't attack him with his power-_

"_I COULD KILL YOU ANYTIME!" General Kushrenada exploded; the poor Aide jerked again, his father almost never raised his voice, Treize thought… he didn't need to in most cases; he didn't even need to growl or snarl or hiss to make his point. It's the kind of power he possessed._

_General Kushrenada's face turned neutral again in a click, almost like a doll; he looked much younger than The King and his stern forever-unhappy expression. People would classify his face as lady's-man's looks… if only his possession with his presence wasn't as sharp as making people felt like they were strapped on a guillotine's base… Only The King could stand his presence like it was natural; it's because The King's possession was even more offensive… like he was wearing a time-frozen fire explosion around his being that could unfroze anytime with even the slightest trigger that could be anything._

_Staring apathetically at his son, General Kushrenada cued his Aide to get out with his chin; the man almost ran to the doors, Treize noted; he missed his father walked towards him and almost jumped when he saw his father's front blocking his sight of the dark-wood desk. Looking up to his face, he knew that his father was sharp and cold, like a guillotine blade that could kill anyone anytime as it pleased… without feelings, without thoughts… almost like the course of a natural disaster. Almost like he were not a human-_

_Treize held his breath when his father's hand pulled him up by his upper arms as his feet dangled, keeping him at his eye level, letting the boy stared into his apathetic eyes, knowing he'll break eventually by his own fear he could see reflected back on his unfeeling eyes. The boy took much longer time than anyone else to react to his stare, that much The General gave credit to his son; and anyone else would feel satisfied seeing his lips trembled dignifiedly, trying in vain to hide his fear while it wafted like a putrid rotten carcass from his being… but not him, General Kushrenada never felt satisfaction for anything, except that one time when he had Nil as his conquest._

"_Do as I say, Treize." He began, pulled the small body and whispered in the boy's ear, "…and I will hand over the Throne to you…!" he pushed it back to see the boy's face changed; still he didn't feel the satisfaction in it. Tossing the boy casually to the sofa, he didn't spare another glance as he left the boy alone; didn't even care as he tasted the tears in the air before the door to his study closed behind him._

_Treize almost couldn't believe his hearing… He never questioned the reason that would make the kind of person his father was to be serving The King; all this time, he kept thinking of that phrase… 'birds of the same feathers flock together'… right? That even as inhumane as he was, his father would still feel something, like something akin to loyalty, or sense of servitude, or sense of belonging. But he was deluding himself…! His father didn't even think about him when he said those words about the Throne; he was never a son in his father's eyes, never a human, never even a living being… such concept was never in his father's mind. He only did what he did and strife for things because he wanted them to be; because he could; there wasn't even satisfaction in achieving them!_

_-a light thump on the carpeted floor; Treize caught himself and hastily wiped his tears with his sleeves. The Aide was standing at the side of the sofa for only that man knew how long, he was waiting patiently but he had other tasks to attend to, as well; he'd rather his young master to cry in his own bed and not in that unfeeling room._

"…_I'm sorry, Jacob; please take me back to my room…?" Treize tried a smile; his eyes were red and puffy with tears that yet cried. The Aide bowed and took him up in his arms again, one hand took his small slippers from the floor as he did; then walked to the boy's room in another building. A white pigeon with bluish back landed on the man's shoulder as he stepped outside into the court corridor, cooed to the boy that had surrendered to his fatigue and was sleeping soundly as if he had no burdens in life._

_-if only it were true…_

x - - - - - - - - x

The General opened his eyes in a snap. His stare was wild and somewhat disoriented.

A small gasp and the shadow above his face sprang behind with fright; he turned his wide eyes to that direction, knowing who -_what_ it was. His lips pulled to the sides in a leer, looking delirious as his eyes still looked bewildered. The bundle of tapestry shrunk and pressed itself harder to the headboard; if it could hole it out, there should have been a hole on that board, his mind mocked as he straightened his upper body on an elbow. The rustles of his movement made the bundle froze.

"Hmmm…" he sounded appreciative but in a bad way, "So you were watching me sleeping…? Every night?" he asked with a smile, his eyes drooped with a sadistic joy. "What was it you were enjoying? This face…? Or any-…" his words paused when his fingers playfully stroked his own face; finding wet trails from the ends of his eyes to the side hair lines under his temples, that the hair on those spots were damp by salty moisture. His face turned neutral as he felt the hair between his fingers, he didn't like the almost-sleek feeling on it; it disgusted him.

So he was crying in his sleep…?

-since the first night? He thought as he remembered seeing the looming shadow of his new-toy from that time, just as he opened his eyes; which soon disappeared as if it was an afterimage of the dream he was having that night.

…a dream; or a distant memory… -maybe not so distant since he felt as if he experienced it yesterday… this was… "Your master still put up a fight…?" he asked apathetically to the bundle, getting no reaction. "Is it because I tried to push his master off the balcony yesterday?"

He averted his eyes to the bedpost behind the bundle, "That was a pathetic failure…" noting the fractures on the wooden post that weren't there before; "…I should have known better than to use these very hands to do that… Something like that…!"

Narrowing his eyes as they glinted in the dark room; "Having Rockefeller said it to my face was an insult I don't need…!" he almost sounded like he didn't care; but the bedpost exploded with a muted sound; the bundle jerked feeling the wave of the excess power hit the tapestry-shell like a sudden blowing wind. "…who were you playing with when I wasn't around?" the flat tone almost took the threat out of that question. A long defiant hiss answered him.

He turned his head a little, as if he was inspecting his room with bored eyes; the dark room answered him with silence. His patience snapped and with enough force he pulled the tapestry bundle with both hands, sprawled it under him and held the thin wrists at its sides. The face under his stared him back with wide shocked eyes, fear and bafflement flashed on them in turns; a gasp of realization heard before he covered those slacked lips with his mouth.

Some defiant jerks…

A knee kicked his midsection. His left grip loosened for a fracture of second-

A cool brush on his face, too fast for his senses to register the pain for now.

The lithe body instantly curled itself to the headboard again, cocooning itself with the tapestry half looking like a snail with one side of its upper body exposed.

A long hateful hiss; the black cat-ears flattened and pulled back…

He chuckled throatily, enjoying the reaction he got instead of the forced kiss he tried. Moaning in complaint when he felt the sting on his face; "…not on the cheek again…!" he muttered as his finger brushed the small lines of blood making their way to his chin.

A tearful gasp; and a clawed hand reached out to his wound. The creature before him froze with a caught look in a click as his gaze turned to it, as if he could hear a cracking noise of petrifaction; the ends of the blade-like black nails a centimeter away from touching him.

"Don't hurt this body if you're that hurt hurting it…" he criticized with a bored tone, pushing his head forward, ghostly brushing the ends of those nails with his bleeding cheek, to the cold opened hand, fawning like a cat; smiling at the thought that their positions were reversed. "This is your master's blood… is it warm?" he asked softly, almost with a kind tone.

The caught face in front of him bent in pain, the clear black liquid welled up in the wide eyes. He smiled wider breathing in the inhuman scent along the pale arm to the face; kissing the wet cheek offhandedly several times, snuggled his head between the shoulder of the extended arm and that face, feeling the soft furry feathers from its temples brushed his skin. Feeling the stilled arm yielded a little as he put his arms around that small back in its cocoon.

"…Riankitten…" the gentle voice was too familiar to be denied; the-cat sobbed once and let _his_ hand fell to the bed… _he_ wanted to just surrender; if only _he_ could…

"Kitten…" the warm cheek brushed lightly on _his_, "We can play this game all night… again!" the kind smile turned alien; and the-cat pushed that body with all _his_ might in fear, fell to the bed in _his_ effort.

Treize was amazed that the-cat could fling his body half across the bed in that condition at all, he chuckled at the miserable heap trembled and jerked helplessly losing its leftover strength to thrash about, looking like it were a fish out of water… or a worm drying in scorching sunlight on heated rock; he could even hear the sizzling sound.

Or a continuous hiss…?

"Aaw, Kitten, I'm sorry. Did I tease you too much…?" the playful tone carried a smile.

The-cat gritted _his_ teeth and snapped _his_ eyes at the all-too-known figure of _his_ master with hatred, and widened _his_ eyes in shock and guilt as _he_ saw a piece of wood from the broken bed post protruding from _his_ master's shoulder. He fast glanced at _his_ bloody hand; small bits of woods were embedded on _his_ palm skin and fingers testified for how much strength _he_ used to grip that piece of wood as _he_ stabbed it into _his_ master's flesh. _He_ sobbed in disbelieve and deeper fear, _he_ didn't even realize it when _he_ did that…!

Treize watched the Familiar with apathetic smile, "You know…" he started conversationally, pulling the piece of wood from his shoulder, didn't flinch when the blood spurt to his front and face. "I haven't hurt this body even once since the beginning; not a broken skin or a broken nail… It's all your doing." He said gently.

The-cat's face turned to him again, bent in pained anguish; the clear black tears ran down _his_ cheeks in streams. _He_ knew that voice all too well, that kind tone, and that somewhat uncaring smile… the smell of that red blood, that warm touch of those hands, that golden reflection on the soft locks, that scent… that's all _his_ Treize-

_His_ Treize…

_His_ Treize that wasn't _his_ Treize!

The gaze inside those eyes was alien to _him_; the-cat screamed in frustration and curled back into _his_ cocoon, wailed in pain and sobbed like an abandoned child.

"Hmph! So much for night-games…!" Treize muttered and lied down under his own blanket again, not minding his blood seeping into the white bedding and pillow, fully ignoring the miserable sounds coming from the trembling bundle near his head. He closed his eyes with a contented smile; that could chase away the aftershock from that memory-attack he had just then.

He sighed and succumbed to sleep's claim.

* * *

><p>Odin stared at the bird staring at him while cocking its head to the sides. He'd been staring at the bird for over 5 minutes now… the bird had been staring at him for over 5 minutes too, to think one of them should give in by now...<p>

-splotch.

The bird's dropping gave in… -or out, by now.

-crack.

Odin's arteries popped on his temple with an audible sound. He gave a lizard grin to the bird still staring at him innocently. With a growl he gave in and extended his hand to receive the message carried by the bird; it watched Odin's fingers curled in a code succession and dropped the hays from its beak to the open palm… and flew away after adding another dropping to the floor as it turned around.

"GAAAHH!" Odin yelled swaying his fist to the flying bird's direction. "Bird droppings!" he frowned to the demon when the demon glanced at him from the kitchenette, he blinked at the man standing by the hole in the wall and left to his cooked breakfast. "Hmph!" Odin snorted at his fisted hand, the hays felt heavy; -_why now after over 20 years, Jacob?_ His eyes clouded when he opened his fingers.

There were four pieces of hays on his palm. Three were tied together by their base-ends; the longest one, a straw -_human_, four large specks -_a general_, light almost golden colored -_hint of personal disposition_, two knots on the far end -_danger_… above the specks -_credibility_, a cut in the middle near the knotted end -_two-siding agent_…no; what's the separated two-parts into the knot meant? He never got that kind of message before; perhaps the cut got longer being hit by the wind when the bird carried them here, he asked himself, but immediately ruled it out since what baffled him was that the straw end was cut into two-parts before knotted. Odin frowned accusingly at the straw, and continued reading that longest one; a nick at its side between the first and second specks -_fatal wound_, two nicks at the opposite side between the second and the third specks -_help_.

Huh? He arched his brows; he was asked to help a traitorous general whose credibility known to be flawed? …really? -Oh, could it be for interrogation's sake?

The middle one was a blacken hay making a loop as both ends knotted in the three-tied group, a knot in the middle of its curved length. Odin frowned again to that; hay -_not human_, black -_hint on personal disposition_… so he was supposed to have seen the creature with his own eyes; not the _unseen_ that had been bothering him since yesterday, then…! Both ends into the knot …_doubled over_? As in down? A knot in the middle -_captured_. Odin frowned deeper. That hay was the shortest of all four; _a small black-colored inhuman creature_-…? He widened his eyes in realization; there weren't that many inhuman creatures with that description in the Palace!

Gritting his teeth, he read the third one; BROWN! He hissed at his suspicion; hay with four white lines at its upper sides… he didn't need to read deeper into that piece, the creature was behind him in person, cooking breakfast in his kitchenette. "BIRD DROPPINGS!" he almost bark when his demon poked his head from the kitchenette again, apparently feeling his air changed to offensive.

Heero frowned at the man stood stiffened facing the hole in the wall, looking down at his hand which was blocked by his large body. "Is it attacking you?" he asked; if he were a cat, the demon imagined Odin had his furs standing on ends.

"NATURE'S ATTACKS!" Odin said through gritted teeth. The demon wasn't impressed and snorted his comment; he continued with arranging the table and finished his cooking.

A loose knot under the white lines -_possible/incoming danger_. He knew that already! He growled low in objection.

The singled one was another straw, it was yellowish brown in color, Odin didn't mind its color aside from being average, blackish dried smudge at its far end… like the straw had been dipped in the mud and washed but the mud's color had seeped in. Odin blinked; someone from the underground? Average, black… one large speck and two small ones -_a lieutenant_…? A knot in the middle of its length -_captured_; two nicks opposite each other between the first and second specks -_possible fatal wound_; two knots at its base-ends… -_missing_!

-now he felt a knot in his guts… what a way to start a morning, just before breakfast too! He complained in his mind.

Odin growled and crushed the message in his angry fist, crumpled it and threw it into his mouth, chewing until the hays and straws succumbed to the strength of his jaws.

"You chew the nature's attacks…?" Heero frowned in disagree from the table, his cooked breakfast was already arranged on a big plate, fresh salads of colorful leaves and fruits in a large bowl next to it, a pitcher of warm water with a big mug just got filled.

Odin snorted and swallowed. "Nature bites! I bite harder!" he growled with dignity.

Heero stared at the man, and the certain spots behind him. "The nature's attacks are still on their natural spots." He pointed. "You didn't chew the bird, did you?" he narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"Hah! It's a Jacobin." Odin made a mock-burp, walking towards his breakfast and sat heavily on the chair.

Heero took his apron off, put the folded cloth on his side of table as he sat on his chair. "Jacobin…" he muttered.

"A fancy pigeon." Odin supplied as he took his first bite of the breakfast.

"A pigeon…" Heero muttered. Pigeons didn't come to Odin's chamber, they're too afraid of his predatory air; only crows did, sometimes eagles in certain seasons; bats were afraid of his scent, or the scent of the Sauria on him, so he never found them around, as well. Glancing behind at the certain spots, "…attacked you twice." He added.

"You didn't swallow the bird, did you?" Heero asked again. Odin gave him an insulted stare. Heero snorted and let the man finished his breakfast in silence.

x - - - - - - - - x

"Practice court?" the demon asked from the sink, hearing the sounds of the man putting on his gears like usual.

"Like usual." Odin answered uncaringly. The demon paused his plate-washing, noting a different tone in his voice. "I got a meeting before that." Odin continued, tapping the sole of his boots to the floor after wearing them.

"Meeting?" the demon asked, putting the wet plate to the rack and turning off the tap. He was in the middle of drying off his hands with a towel when Odin suddenly stormed to his front, pushing his back to the sink with both hands on his shoulders, and knelt.

The demon blinked, it felt familiar; "Odin…" he mumbled his warning about his dislike being treated like a maiden again, not so un-girly with the hand-towel in his hands separating their bodies while he was wearing his apron for washing the plates, too.

"Heero…" Odin began, looking too serious for a petty warning; the demon recognized it and let him continued. "I have to say this first. I'm sorry…" he pushed his upper body forward, hugging the uncomplaining demon tightly and mouthed to his ear, knowing Heero could hear him perfectly. "-but the world you left to sleep and the world you woke up in afterwards are different."

The demon blinked to that; if Odin was talking about the sudden escalating rates of the invisible activities in the Palace, he'd felt it even before he woke up. It didn't make him concerned; they're still below his-

"Please!" Odin hissed with enough pressure, "Just for this one time, I ask you to sit this one out!"

The demon glanced at Odin's face on his left shoulder, couldn't really see the man's face with their arrangement. "…sit?"

"Don't do anything! ANYthing…! -leave everything to me…!" Odin pulled back and stared into the demon's eyes; the man sounded like he was really begging for once. There was something implied there… an order of sorts… the demon stared, knowing Odin didn't give him any other option but to comply; he nodded his answer once, feeling the lost of his too-strong embrace already.

Odin searched into his eyes for some long seconds, cupping his face with his large hands; his neck felt the pull of the Contract burnt into his skin as Odin's wrists were on his red-lines' level; the man must have felt that pull in his wrists, too.

The man's eyes clouded, "I wish I could swap the places where our Contract-lines etched…" he mumbled.

"So that you could let your head roll as a shortcut out of this place?" Heero asked flatly. The man smirked; "That's not why I stayed." The demon criticized.

"Why you stayed…" Odin breathed, "I don't care. What I wanted to ask you was why you didn't choose to leave…"

A flash of something in the demon's eyes, and he opened his mouth almost looking defiant- "But I don't care about that now." Odin said in closure. "I love you, Heero." The man said seriously.

The demon clamped his mouth almost in surprise. Odin smiled at that.

"…my Blood loves you." He continued.

The demon's eyes widened with an alarmed almost caught look; "You knew-". Odin's thumbs instantly shut his lips up.

"Take it as whatever you want… I just wanted you to know it, for what's coming your way outside these doors might not be to your liking." Odin said with grim face.

They looked into each other's eyes; feeling the pull of their Contract-lines lessened with each passing second… Heero knew Odin chose his duty over him, and the man didn't let him to do anything-

"Don't die." the demon said flatly. "I still want my head in its rightful place."

Odin snickered and chuckled for his choice of words; "I'll keep that rightful place safe…!" he smirked his usual villain's smirk, but his eyes were still soften with affection. He stood up and walked to the doors, his sturdy back looked determined.

The demon suddenly felt that prickly cut of distance in his presence. He threw the hand towel somewhere and took the apron off, letting it fell to the floor as he fast chased the man's figure.

-he felt like he was left behind.

* * *

><p>"Commander Odin asked for a meeting with you, General." The attendant bowed to him, keeping his gaze to the floor.<p>

Treize smirked, snorted his complaint for the wait; "Let him in!"

The attendant fidgeted on his feet.

Treize plucked a blue grape with his mouth from its stem; he chewed it while chuckling at his other hand gripping a handful of black cloth. He noticed the attendant was still fidgeting there after he swallowed it. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"N-…now? -Sir?" the attendant shrunk, visibly trembling.

Treize gave him the-stare; it was filled with soul-freezing coldness that the attendant fled with a choked yelp just from feeling the goosebumps on his skin without actually seeing his eyes.

"Odin is here, General." Odin reported as he waited with the closed doors behind his back.

"Yes. What do you want, Odin?" Treize smirked playfully as he tossed the grapes to the table, got a good grip at the end of the black cloth and pulled it back to the sofa with both hands, pinning the length with his right knee, as his left leg half dangled from the cushion and propped his weight a little on its toes.

"If you are too busy right now, I could pick another time later." Odin half turned to face the closed double doors; the sound of a glass shattered as it fell to the floor stopped him for a second, but he proceeded pushing the door panel-

"WAIT! Come join me, Odin…!" Treize chuckled while catching a swatting limb and pinned it down with his left leg; a pale skinned foot was visible from under the black cloth, Odin didn't take a glance to see it.

Odin sighed; "If you really don't mind my being here as of this moment, then I'll proceed with my business with you…!"

"-haahaha! Just say want you want of me…!" Treize laughed as he caught another kicking foot, pressing it down and used his lower body to keep them still. He snickered enjoying the easy game, "What, Odin?"

A choked moan filled the paused as Odin took his time before speaking.

"…where is Treize, General?" Odin asked with low -almost gentle- voice.

"Haha! What…?" Treize asked somewhat distracted with his thrashing toy.

"I asked you; where is your son, _General Kushrenada_…!" Odin pressed the last part; the body under Treize stilled making a teary mewl, a pale hand was pushing his shoulder up at arm length to keep the blond away from its face still covered by the twisted cloth.

The air turned cold instantly… Odin knew it all too well; he didn't need to see the apathetic eyes glaring frost at him from the sofa.

"…do you really think I wouldn't recognize your presence, General Kushrenada?" Odin smiled to the door panel sounding almost bored. "Such an unfeeling coldness that only ghostly brushed with a sense of ownership… as if you have all the right to claim anything you wanted…!" Odin said slowly, feeling over-conscious of his moving tongue. "By acting buoyant and nonchalant, you thought you could hide your frosty air, General?" he leered eventually.

Treize's lips pulled to the sides, smiling in enjoyment, although the feeling didn't reach the depth of his eyes. "Aah…" he breathed appreciatively; Odin could do more than what other people could, after all; although he'd been expecting Odin to come sooner…perhaps the man didn't want to believe his senses when he read his presence even from before yesterday? "Play nice if you want to join the game, Odin. See here? …I'm being nice." He snickered, "This body is so used to smiling that I actually pulled my lips' ends every time I tried speaking…! It's like a reflex!" he said in an awed tone… but the feeling didn't reach his eyes.

-thunk.

Odin thumped his forehead to the door panel, reining in his anger. "…since when?" he asked softly.

A long satisfied chuckle; "…since you weren't around, Odin." If ever, those eyes turned even colder.

Odin closed his eyes at the realization. "…that poisoned knife…!" -the night where he was too preoccupied with his unconscious demon to care about whatever happens outside his chamber, off course!- his lips were still smiling; he tried so hard not to give in to his urge to go on the rampage. -he should have known that **Master** would have enough reason with his order, especially when it concerned his only guardian… that it was too late to prevent the harm done to save his precious Treize.

"So, where is Treize?" Odin pulled his forehead from the door panel, speaking in business tone; turning his body around and faced the blond General smiling at him with cold eyes.

"Where… I wonder. Why do you even care?" the General said silkily.

Odin stared him waiting for his answer. The blond busied himself to catch a flailing arm, and Odin decided to get his demand. "You swore you wouldn't harm him…!" he breathed out slowly with narrowed eyes.

"-if you finished my task with the bordering Aurilathans, right? I didn't forget my own terms, Odin; look closely… I didn't hurt him in any way…!" the General pulled the limbs tangled in the twisted black cloth until the covered upper body got lifted from the sofa; and pushed it back with a force, somehow got the arms bent as he got good grips on the wrists together with their upper arms in his large hands. He laughed outright when the head jerked and turned in panic, wailing its protest. "…his toy did." The flat accusing tone froze the thrashing figure, it was in the middle of writhing to get free and its head was turned to the side of the sofa, facing Odin near the doorway.

Odin could see it was gasping for air by the movements of the black cloth. "You're hurting his Familiar…" Odin pointed out slowly.

A loud snicker answered him; "Ooh? …and is this part of the deal, Odin?" he smiled with mockery.

"_He_ is part of Treize." Odin said in closure tone.

The General's smile lost its sarcasm; he stared Odin with a generic smile -Odin knew that Treize did that in reflex too, when he was being uncertain about things but didn't want to look like he was indecisive; …he missed his cute young master already, being oppressed in that frosty air for only that long. It's true, he didn't want to believe he was feeling that air again; denying his own thoughts recalling the memory of this certain human; that the readings of such frosty inhumane presence belonged actually to his dead human superior.

The General took a deep breath and sighed, his lips were still pulled to a smile despite himself.

"…I'm bored, Odin. I couldn't ask for a conquest now, could I?" he said conversationally. "…or I could?" he intentionally made it sound like he was testing.

Odin stared for a moment; "Must you still thirst for conquests?" -_even in that body_.

"I still not get my hands on the THRONE, Odiiinn!" the General raised his voice slowly, but the absence of the heat in his tone made it almost like a crazed exclaim instead of an angry bark. Odin knew that tone too well… his eyes dimmed.

"I can't let you have the Throne." Odin said softly, losing his soldier-tone.

"So, you're here to kill me…? -again?" the General smiled.

"It was The King's order 10 years ago." Odin said.

"…and this time? That-child's request?" the General smirked; "…we're just doing this like routine, don't you think? The cursed fathers and sons."

"**Master** is not a child anymore." Odin said softly, pulling his sword out of its scabbard.

"Hmmm… -and I'm not the unfeeling General Kushrenada anymore, Odin. I can feel the joy of having a conquest in this body…" the General pulled the right wrist in his left hand down, keeping the arm alongside the length of the lithe pale body under him; bent down and peeled the covering black cloth from the head with his teeth.

A teary sob, a pleading mewl. It was trembling under the General's body claiming dominance; sprawled submissively in helpless and fright… could only closed its eyes when it felt the General's breaths on its cheek, turning its face as far away as it could to escape his touches.

-its pale deathly skin tone;

-its lithe body;

-its short hair;

-its immaculate face;

-its… all… except for the black hair and the cat ears flattened in fear…

-it's Heero's frame!

The General smiled wider as he watched the realization dawned in Odin's eyes; "…especially of a toy you wouldn't share!" he chuckled, "…or would you?"

Odin hissed as he felt his beast-blood surged up to the surface, clouding his mind and pinpointing his target in red vision…-

x - - - - - - - - x

Heero arrived late in front of Treize's study; Odin had already entered, and two of The Sixth guarding the double doors denied him entrance. So he waited by the wall at the opposite side, worriedly watching the closed doors didn't give him any reading… he knew the doors to a General's study should be imbued with warding spells and such; but that time it was too much, he felt like being cut off from Odin's presence completely… as if the man was being in another world separated from his world. There was no such a place in that Palace!

-didn't he say something about the world being different, too?

The Sixth's eyes were staring at him from under their full-faced helmet; they'd probably realized it how nervous he was… even with his stoic face; or was it because he came there running…? Looking lost, too, perhaps?

He decided to close his eyes to ignore The Sixth's eyes on him; if he could just find a flicker of Odin's trace in the air behind those doors… he should be able to sense anomalies around the man-

A huge explosion blew the doors open from the inside, the power shook the floors and walls; his stilled figure missed The Sixth's bodies smashed to the walls at his sides… the wall debris shot at his direction, the raining dust… -but they're all soundless!

He opened his eyes to the shocking sight… somehow every propelled things had missed him on his standing spot; a large piece from the broken door panel embedded on the wall by his right side, like a frozen sail in a white storm of the raining dust, blocking his sight to his right…

A cold sting caught him off guard as it coiled around his neck; he let out a choked sound in surprise as he bent his upper body forward, widened his eyes when a transparent arm caught him from falling. He gasped as he pushed his swaying body back to the wall, eyes snapped warily to his left, finding a smiling face so close to his like their skins almost brushed on each other's…-he felt it ghostly on his cheek like a feather of his own ear-wings!

"-youu…! Why-…" he tried a question, surprised himself when he realized he couldn't let a voice out.

"…why am I in this form?" the transparent face smiled until the eyes almost closed, the long eyelashes looked mesmerizingly beautiful with specks of lights on their ends shining with many colors, changing in waves. "You asked me that the first time…"

The lithe fingers ghosted around his stinging neck, checking whatever it was meant there to be working right… Heero shivered feeling the energy left his limbs; he could only see the smiling face from the ends of his eyes, and that one arm casually draped around his chest as if keeping him standing…the rest of his assailant's body should be in the wall with their arrangement, but since it was almost intangible…-

He opened his mouth to ask again, gravely aware that his lips didn't obey him; just as his whole body getting stiff in alarming rate.

"…we don't want you to die along with Odin." The soft whisper in his ear still carried a kind smile, the transparent hand straightened his body and turned his head forward as if he was a mannequin on its pedestal; facing the destroyed chamber as its owner came out waving his hand to chase away the dust still clouding the air. "I'm sorry…" he felt a farewell kiss like a breeze on his cheek before that transparent hand disappeared from his sight.

He watched the General walked towards him minding the debris and other things on the floor; his eyes couldn't show his shock anymore, as the eyelids stilled in their opened state with his usual stoic expression.

Some people, mostly alarmed guards came running towards them, shouting commands as they seemed to be trained to handle such situation. Some came to The General, giving a salute before asking for explanations and orders. The General smiled and pointed at his direction, the guards turned their heads with wary eyes, and with baffled expression pointed their weapons at him; a healer lady shouted and put a white folded cloth on The General's temple, criticizing him about how could he not felt that major wound while it was bleeding like a river; she ignored him standing by the wall since he didn't seem to have any visible wounds, and proceeded with the two fallen Sixth…

The General smiled at him; keeping the white cloth on his forehead with his left hand… continued his walk, chuckling as he closed the distance between them.

The General that was not Treize…!

"Aah… you could tell just by looking, hm?" The General's other hand nonchalantly brushed at the thing stinging at his neck, moved up to his chin and put the fingers on his lips. The smiling face bent down and whispered, "Stop mouthing 'not Treize'… no one will notice, anyway. The blame for all this is on _you_…" he paused to steal a peck on the cheek where the transparent-being kissed before; "…since Odin is no more."

The General straightened his upper body, and was amazed when the prussian eyes of the demon followed his movement, somewhat staring at his face unfocusedly. He took the time to stroke under the demon's chin like he was a cat, recognized the dismissal in those eyes as they started to gray and glazed, and the lids drooped like they were sleepy; the white wings half opened, earning frightened gasps from the guards behind him, and closed slowly flattened the feathers to the sides of the pale face like a closure. With a satisfied smile he took the unmoving demon's body into his embrace; breathing in the demon's scent from his brown head and wings… it smelled of unearthly feathers and blood and dust.

His cold eyes narrowed when the General smiled satisfactorily for his conquest…

x - - - - - - - - x

x - - - - - - - - x

**Thanx for reading**

_Saru's note_:  
>So sorry that this is uploaded late… saru was consumed by the time management (as always) of finishing the materials for a comics event next month; the event committee took the opportunity of the decennial commemoration of Asia Africa Conference in town and kind of made the event as part of the month-long agenda (although the event would only be for 2 days)…<br>ahh, but the strict rules about participants' comics and all the things to be sold there that saru had to make an original comics (it's the first time for us); and it happens that Oni-tan's cat (Pun-pun) had to have a caesarean surgery in labor, and that she couldn't help saru at all with the works because Pun-pun lengthened her recovery time after she successfully pulled 2 stitches off her belly -and Oni-tan freaked out that the cut was open again until she could see the inside…? -to top it all, saru's ground coffee ran out by Monday, april 1st, while the deadline was by 10th, and saru couldn't find that brand in 2 shops and 3 minimarkets around HQ; so saru tried compromising with the brand that sister-snake used to drink… ended up with coffee poisoning (it's like food poisoning, but it was caused by coffee… hence…).  
>Took 2 days to bounce back from that coffee poisoning; by Friday 3rd, saru went home to buy the supply at the supermarket near the house… took 3 days with the house's menial things, and went back to HQ by the next Monday. Anyway, saru was late by 2 days with the deadline, but since it's done… tried peeking the fic again. Tomorrow will be busied again with the printing and other stuffs for the event; oh, the next chapter next month would probably be late as well… hahahaa.<p> 


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